After the Battles are Done
by Sachan2294
Summary: This is about Malon the girl from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It's what happens after Link returns to Hyrule to fufill a promise he made to Malon's father. Soon though, Malon finds herself pulled into Link's biggest adventure ever.
1. Back to Hyrule

**After the Battles are Done**

It was the perfect opportunity for me. I had been in love with the fairy boy for seven years, waiting for his return to Hyrule. My father himself kept yelling at me that I should give up on him and settle down with Sethe from the Hyrule Castle Village. The idea mad me shudder. Then one day, out of the blue the fairy boy came back. But he was no longer the fairy boy. He was a MAN! And a handsome man at that. He rode into our ranch with such extreme confidence, the sun glistening of his golden locks. His eyes held mystery in them and tales of lands far from this small ranch. His face had matured from a child'like roundness to that of a young king. Oh and his body! Not a single part on him wasn't muscular in appearence. I wanted to throw myself into his perfection. "_Oh Malon"_ I thought to myself "_Your prince has come at last_" I breathed out and approached him.

" Hello Malon," he said " It's been awhile"

I grinned" Too long dear friend, I've missed you"

His eyes seem to peer into my very soul. "I have missed you too. Not a day went by that I didn't think about this place and you," with this, he smiled. I felt myself blush as he leaned down from Epona to whisper in my ear "Not a single thing I saw on my journey could compare to the sheer perfection of your face,". .Gods. This was not happaning. Slowly I turned towards him.

"I-"

"Link!" boomed my father from behind us. Instantly Link straightened up and gave my father a warm smile. I blushed even deeper. How much of that had my father seen? He was a little slow to notice things but had he noticed enough this time to realize my true feelings? I prayed to the gods that he hadn't.

"It's been awhile my boy! I started to think you had forgotten this place and your promise to me" said my father.

"_Promise?_" I thought "_What promise?_"

Link put on a bemused expression. "Mr. Talon" he began "If anything, I am a _man_ of my word." He put a huge emphasis on the word man. He went on. "I most certainly remember our trade and agreement,"

" Ummmm..." I said "Is there something I should know here?" I was a little mad right now. What agreement was there between him and my father that my father had forgotten to mention? I mean it sounded pretty important and to me at least anything that has to do with Link WAS important.

Link raised his eyebrow. "_His perfectly shaped eyebrow_" I thought. He turned to me and my breathe caught.

"I figured your father told you but I guess not," he said with a small smile. He breathed out." My promise was that for every year I had Epona in my care I would owe your father one year of work," he winked at me " but if I like it here I might stay here for longer than that,"

For a minute I forgot how to breathe. I could not believe my ears. Link. The Link who I had had a crush on for years was going to work on the farm _with me._ He was going to be living in the same place _as me._ If this was a dream I never wanted it to end. Quickly I pinched myself and thanked the gods that there was pain to prove that my fantasy had become reality.


	2. Your Normal Day at the Market

**After the Battles are Done**

Part 2

I woke up the next morning in one of the best moods of my life. Quickly, I got dressed in my favorite outfit and skipped to the barn. I arrived there to find that Link was already dressed and leaning against the door, an easy smile on his king-like face. My heart melted.

"Good morning Malon," he greeted

"Good morning to you too Link," I replied with a grin. "_Good morning?_" I thought "_It's the best morning ever!_" I breathed out and smiled again.

"So!" I said cheerfully "Are you ready for your first day of work?"

" Yes, ma'am!" said Link giving me the soldier's salute, making me giggle " What are your orders?"

Still giggling at soldier Link I said "At ease Captain," His hand dropped to his side. "Our first job is to milk the cows, bottle it and go to the market before the sun is up in three hours, so you ready?"

"All right then," said Link who went to open the door like a true gentleman. A true gentleman who actually seemed to have life figured out and confident about it unlike, well, a certain creep from the village named _Sethe._ Again I remembered my father's request for me to marry him and again I shuddered at the idea. Link glanced over.

"Chilly this morning?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No just an unpleasant memory," I looked over at him and put on a sly grin " Well Captain Link? Are you ready for your first day on command?" I teased.

Link put on a broad grin. "Yes Captain Malon," With that we headed inside the barn to begin the work day. We decided that I would milk the cows and that Link would filter the milk into the bottle. After about half an hour we were ready to head to the market. We put the milk in the portable ice box, then went to hitch the horses.

"Hey! Why don't we hook Epona up today? I bet she'd love the market," I suggested.

Link chuckled "Good luck, " when he saw my confused face he continued "Ever since we happened on a wild rancher caravan, who by the way worshipped Epona like she was a goddess, she's become more stuck up than a princess,"

I laughed " Okaaaay, then let's just hook up Kari and Irace. I take them to the market usually anyway,"

Link smirked, then went to get the bridles and harnesses. 10 minutes later the horses were hitched, the milk loaded and we were on our way to the market. While we were heading to the market over Hyrule Plain Link told me all about his adventures with the rancher caravan. He told me how they treated their horses equal with themselves and when Epona and he arrived they treated her like a goddess because of her beauty. I listened the whole way to the market and was amazed with his stories, hoping that I would get to learn more about him in the next few years.

When we got to the market (now held outside of Hyrule's gates) I directed the horses to our spot and we began to unpack. As people passed by our stall I heard whispers from the people and soon a buzz was going through the market that the great Link, favorite of the Princess Zelda, had returned and was in the market. I tried to ignore it and it looked like Link was doing the same. He smiled and was polite to the customers who came but that seemed to be it. Eventually the people calmed down and it seemed to be a normal day at the market.

"Good day to you, pretty Malon. Been thinkin' about you lately"

I groaned. This is the last thing I wanted to do today. Slowly I breathed out and turned to face Sethe. I plastered a fake smile on my face. "How many today Sethe? The usual three bottles for you and your family?" I asked beginning to put the usual order together.

Sethe grinned "Don't be like that Malon. C'mon, I now you're crazy about me. How about you leave "Mr. Hero" and join me for a little stroll?"

"I'm sorry Sethe, but we're rather busy today and frankly I'm just not interested. That'll be 30 rupees," I said handing him his milk.

He sighed and handed me the money, but while doing so quickly grabbed my wrist. "Now listen little Malon" he said in a whisper "If ya like it or not I will make you mine so why don't you just come along nice and easy,"

I tried to pull away but Sethe had a firm grip. "Sethe," I said, My temper blazing "Let me go right now!". When he didn't, I drew my wrist back, about to punch him straight in the mouth. I was about to snap forward when Link put his hand on my arm and in one fluid motion snapped his other hand in a chopping formation on Sethe's hand. Instantly Sethe let go and took a step back. Link then pulled me behind him and narrowed his eyes.

"Sorry about that," he said in a low voice "but it seems to me that Malon isn't interested at the moment. Maybe you can try again in a millennium or so,"

"You ass!" snarled Sethe "I will get you and then I'll take Malon as my own! I'll be back just you wait," and with that Sethe stormed off into the crowd.

I turned to Link. "Thanks for that. Sethe can be a real jerk sometimes. He seems obsessed with me though I don't know why,"

Link's eyes turned soft. "I think I can guess," he said, then turned and went back to work.

The rest of the day went pretty normally and soon we were packing up and heading back home. We rode in silence. When we got back we unhitched the horses, watered them, fed them and then fed the rest of the stock. I started heading back to the main house when Link called out

"Malon!" he called, " I just wanted you to know..." he paused.

My breathe caught. " What Link? What is it?" I waited for his response.

He took a breathe in. "Just know that no matter what I will always try to help you when you are in need of it. Good Night," and with that he went into the barn.

I started to head in, but paused in the door way. "Good night to you too Link" I whispered. I went in and closed the door and was just heading to my room when my father stopped me.

"So!" he boomed " Did you two have fun at the market today?" I smiled to myself

"No," I said "Just your normal day at the market. Night Father," Then I headed into my room and fell asleep, wondering what adventures tomorrow would bring.

"_Wow,_" I thought "_Things are going to be a lot different with Link around,_".

I had no idea how right I was.


	3. Father's wishes suck

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.3

* **Author's note: From this point on I'm going to publish new chapters every Friday unless something happens.**

After what happened at the market, for some reason things between me and Link seemed to become a little tense. We continued working together but that was all that we were doing. Link had stopped talking about his adventures and our conversations became rather business-like. It was annoying the hell out of me! I mean, Link had pretty much sworn to protect me forever and at first he was always flirting with me (or I had thought he was). I found myself often thinking at night if it was something that I had done or was it something to do with Sethe? Had what Sethe said at the market gotten to Link? If that was the case I was going to beat that guy senseless.

When a week went by and Link just seemed to be getting more distant I decided enough was enough. We were going to be at the market all day together today and I needed Link to talk to me. We got the milk ready for the market and loaded the wagon. I went to get the horses and when I came back I was surprised to see my father was already up and talking to Link. I sensed that this was something I shouldn't be seeing and quietly backed up until I was sure that they couldn't see me. As I watched them talk I noticed that Link became more and more tense as my father talked. My mind flashed to the past week and how strange Link had been acting. "_Could it be something my father said?_" I thought.

Finally my father disappeared into the house and I went to the wagon. Soundlessly Link and I hooked the horses up and started to the market. When I was sure we were out of hearing of my father I started to question Link about his behavior.

I turned to Link. "Umm.. Hey," I said."_ Oh great job Malon millions of things to say to him and you come up with hey"._

Link glanced at me. "Hey,"

I breathe out slowly gathering myself. "You seem a little tense lately. What's going on?" No sense sugar coating it. Might as well get to the point.

When Link didn't respond I pushed a little farther. "Does it have something to do with what my dad was talking to you about?"

Link turned to me surprised. "You saw that?"

"Yeah," I said

Link breathed out "Before I tell you what all this is about, that conversation and this whole week, you have to promise me something," he said.

"What?" I asked.

"That no matter what I say you will not say a word to your father,"

Confused, I promised, wondering what this was about.

Link began. "Well as you know I promised your father one year of work for each year I had Epona in my care," I nodded. "So after we came back from the market last week your father came to talk to me about what happened at the market and to, well, lay out some ground rules. He told me that I was not to get to close to you as he had already promised to marry you to a rich merchant's son, which is guess who, our buddy Sethe. Then he told that I was not to intervene with you and that low-life Sethe like I had at the market. This morning's talk was just a reminder. Malon? What's wrong?"

I - could - not - believe this. My father, my own father, has promised me to the lowest of low- lifes Sethe! Without even asking me! What, did he expect me to just go along with his little plans? I mean I knew he wanted me to marry Sethe, but to go so far as to _promise me_ to that scum bag? I had always thought my father knew better than that! I had always thought that he was on my side and would accept whoever I chose to marry! So, naturally, with all this going on in my head there was only one response I could come up with.

" What!" I seethed through my teeth.

"I promise that this is all true!" said Link a little taken aback by my sudden rage.

"How could he?" I ranted. "How could he do this to me?"

Link looked down." I'm sorry I knew I shouldn't have told you,"

Now I was taken aback. "No! Don't be sorry! You did the right thing telling me." I took in big breathes, trying to calm down. "Link," I said " don't let what my dad said get to you. If I want to be friends with you I will and he can be mad at me," I said with finality.

Links face instantly broke into a wide grin. "Good," he said "Because your friendship isn't something I ever want to lose Malon,"

"Just one more question," I said. Link turned to me. "Did my father say when I was suppose to marry Sethe?"

Link thought for a minute. "He said that he wants you to wait until your 18 or older before he tells you, sooo how old are you now?"

"16 in two weeks," I replied.

Link grinned again. "Then we have at least two years to come up with a plan to get you out of marrying Sethe," he said.

I nodded, thinking of what Link said. "When you say "we"," I said. "You mean...,"

"That since your my friend I'm going to help you out of this problem," Link said with a confident smile. "If I can stop the moon from crashing into the world I think I can get my friend out of marrying the lowest lifeform in all of Hyrule,".

When he saw my confused and somewhat surprised face he hastily added, " Long story,".

I glanced down the road. "Well we have some time before we reached the market. Why don't you tell me?"

"All right then," he said. Then he began into an amazing tale of how he had to stop an evil possessing mask from destroying the world. I listened intently and too soon we reached the market. The rest of the day went pretty normal. Sethe came to get his milk and gave me a creepy knowing look that sent a chill down my spine, but one evil glare from Link sent him away. After the market we packed up and went home talking the whole way there. We got back to the ranch and when I saw my father I decided to show him I was not a puppet to be controlled. I turned to Link and rose my voice slightly so my father could hear me. My father shot a suspicious look at Link and me and went inside.

Giving me a bemused look Link asked "Are you so eager to get me in trouble?"

I grinned. "Don't worry I think you could take him,".

With this both Link and I burst into laughter imagining him fighting my father. We unhitched the horses and decided to call it a night. As I walked off to bed Link called out.

"Night Malon!" he said waving from the field where he was brushing Epona.

I waved back. "Night Link!" I called back grinning.

He called out again "And Malon!"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything!"

I turned away smiling. "Thanks to you too Link," I whispered to myself.


	4. A Lakeside Picnic

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.4

Two days after our second time to the market together, Link and I had the day off. This was our first day off together so I wanted to make it special. I had spent the night before cooking and packing the perfect picnic. I also washed my favorite outfit to make sure it was spotless, along with the picnic blanket. After I was sure everything was ready, I hid the picnic basket in a small icebox under my bed to make sure my dad didn't ruin it. Then I fell asleep praying for good weather. I woke up early the next morning and got dressed. I grabbed the basket and as quietly as possible snuck out of the house, making sure to leave a note of where I was going for my father. I began to walk towards the barn and glanced up at the sky. I smiled when I didn't see a single cloud in the sky. For a minute I stood there, enjoying the feel of the sun on my face. As I stood there, a familiar melody reached my ears. Half consciously, I began to hum my mother's song, transported back to my childhood. I looked around to see where the song was coming from and saw that Link was sitting on the fence of the corral, playing my mother's song I had taught him years ago for the horses. His hair was stirring in the breeze, the sun shining on it. His eyes were filled with kindness and love. The site of him sitting there made my heart, as usual, melt. Slowly I walked up to him. By the time I reached him he had noticed me and stopped playing. He was giving me his easy smile, still sitting on the fence.

"Morning Malon," he greeted me.

"Morning Link," I said breathlessly.

He gestured to my basket. "You going somewhere?" he asked.

Finally something in my brain clicked back into place. "Y-yeah, actually I was wondering..." I stopped, lost into the depths of his eyes.

"Yes?" he urged on.

I shook my head, regaining my senses. "I was wondering if you would like to join me for a picnic at the lake," I held my breath.

Link raised his eyebrow. "A picnic?" I nodded. He was silent for a moment. "Well, I guess we could, seeing as this is our first day off and I had no idea you were taking me on a picnic," he said this slowly staring me straight in the eyes. It confused me for a minute. Then I got it. He was worried about angering my father. He was telling me that he wanted no responsibility in planning this and that, to my father's kinowledge this was defenitly not a date or anything of the sort.

"Of course," I said smiling.

"All right then," he said hopping from the fence. "Let's saddle up Epona and go,"

My eyes widened. "Epona?" I said raising my eyebrow now. "Will the "princess" let us ride her?" I said with a small smirk.

Link laughed. "She should seeing as we're just riding her, not making her pull a lowly cart," he said jokingly.

I laughed too. This was already a great day and could only get better from here. We strapped on the picnic basket, then, because both of us were riding her, just put a blanket on her back so that we could both sit on her comfortably. We did this quickly, so that we could be long gone before my father woke up. Ever since we had learned my father's plan to marry me off to Sethe, the lowest of low- lives, we had decided to be careful of how we acted around him so that he wouldn't be suspicious of our friendship, much less our ( in my opinion) slight possibility of dating. I wasn't sure, but I think that Link liked me back the same way I liked him, but he could be very hard to read.

Soon we were on our way to Lake Hylia. The wind was blowing through our hair, the ground rushing by below us. There was nothing like riding, it was a wonderful unique experience. Link was very experienced, as he had been riding for years all over the world. I was holding on tight behind him, enjoying the fact that I got to hug him this close the whole way to the lake. Not that I had a choice. As I was riding in the side saddle position and there was no bridle, if I hadn't been holding on to him I probably would have fallen off. After a couple of hours, a bit before noon, we arrived to the lake. We were greeted by lush grass and sparkling water. We rode Epona over a recently built bridge that led to an island right in the middle of the lake. There we set up the picnic right under the boughs of a tree.

"This is really pretty, I'm glad we came," I said.

"Yeah," nodded Link in agreement.

"Well, are you hungry?" I asked.

"Starving!" said a beaming Link. "What did you pack?"

I began to unpack the basket. " Let's see," I said. " There are two canteens filled with a mixture of honey and milk, a few tomato, ham, cheese and lettuce sandwiches, a bowl of fresh fruit and for dessert a chocolate cake with walnuts," I beamed up at him as I presented him with my feast.

Link looked at the feast with appraising eyes. "Wow, this all looks so good!" he exclaimed. Quickly he attacked the food, trying everything I had made. Soon we were both eating and laughing, talking about old times and his adventures away from Hyrule. I told him that he played the ocarina beautifully, even after all these years and how surprised I was to hear my mother's song, being sure that he had forgotten it. He seemed surprised by this.

"I never forgot anything to do with you, Malon!" Link exclaimed. "I made sure I treasured every single memory of you, everyday!"

"Wow Link," I said. "That's really touching," I felt myself fill up with warmth at what Link had just said.

He smiled at me. "Well it's the truth,". With that he pulled out his ocarina and began to play my mother's song. I closed my eyes and leaned in close to him and began to hum the melody. After my mother's song he played a few more well known songs and the whole world seemed to be in harmony. I didn't ever want this moment to end. Link eventually stopped playing and we just sat there for a few minutes, staring out at the lake.

"I'm really glad I went with you to the lake today Malon," Link said quietly.

"I'm glad too," I replied.

Link sighed. "There's only one thing wrong with this day," he said, looking away from me to the sky.

I instantly became worried. "W-what?" I said thinking, was it the food? The conversation? The fact that he was here with me and not somebody else?

Link turned to me with a devious smile. "It's too hot," he said.

"Huh?" I said confused, then gave a yelp of surprised as Link picked me up in his arms and began running. Instantly I understood what he was going to do. "Wait Link don't - !" And with a small dramatic yell and a scream from me, he plunged into the lake. I kicked up and surfaced, glad that my favorite outfit was lightweight. "Link," I complained as he surface, a huge smile on his face, soaked hair in his eyes.

"There, much better," he said laughing. I rolled my eyes and splashed him with water. Of course this started a huge water war, each of us trying to splash each other. I was losing badly, as Link could dive and hold his breath for quite some time, so I was never really sure where he would pop up. The Zoras in the lake that were swimming around looked at us from a distance with a bemused expression. Some of the younger Zoras decided to get in on the fun and began to help me out against Link. Then it was Link losing as Zoras could stay underwater just as long as he could. They would catch Link, bring him to the surface, where me and two other Zoras would splash him mercilessly. Eventually we heaved ourselves out of the lake and lied in the sun for awhile, drying off. I noticed the position of the sun and knew we had to be going soon. We waved good-bye to our new Zora friends, packed up the picnic and headed off for home.

"Well that was fun," I said to Link on the way home.

"The best day off I ever had!" He replied.

We got home just after dark. Link put Epona in the corral and we said good night to each other. I went in and got ready for bed. As I fell asleep, I thought back to our day at the lake and was glad as always that Link had come back into my life.

I couldn't wait to see what the future would bring.


	5. How Far Will People Go?

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.6

After Link and I returned from our day off, my father wasn't exactly pleased about the fact we had been gone alone all day. Actually that's an understatement. He was furious. When I talked to Link the next day he said that he was surprised my father's yelling hadn't woke me up. It didn't end there either. The next day we woke up to a little surprise of my father's that he must have set up in the middle of the night.

"He can not be serious," I said with disbelief as I looked at it.

"Something tells me he's plenty serious," said Link frowning.

Before us was a schedule board, telling us where and when to do certian jobs around the ranch. As you could probably guess Link and I were never working together. The only day we did work together was on market days. My father had done everything in his power to make sure we stayed seperated. The only reason that he was still letting us go to the market together was probably because Sethe was there.

"This is unbelievable!" I practically shouted "He's treating us like employers making schedule like this. I refuse to follow it!" I was way past angry now.

"Malon, I think we should follow the schedule board," said Link evenly. When he saw my face he went on. "Your father is obviously suspicious of our friendship so we need to be careful of how we act. If we didn't do so and just ignored his board, then we'll just prove his suspicions and he might try to marry you to Sethe sooner,".

"Oh," I said. His thinking did make sense and I definitly didn't want to marry Sethe. "I still don't like it," I grumbled.

"Neither do I," said Link. "Well I guess I better start working, looks like you don't have to start till 9," he said. " Oh wait that's 's schedule, never mind. I guess I'll talk to you later," and he walked off.

I sighed. Life just has to get more complicated with Link around doesn't it. "_Oh well, no helping it. Now let's see what my first job is..._".

So life on the ranch went on like that for sometime,with Link and me hardly ever seeing each other. I went through each week waiting for market day to come. Link and I didn't talk much and it kept getting harder to see eachother. Since my dad didn't believe in hard labor most of the jobs he gave us were easy and we had plenty of energy at the end of the day. So it started that for awhile we would just wait until my father would fall asleep. Then I would sneak out of the house, go knock twice on Link's door in the barn and we would stay up for a few extra hours talking. Eventually though my father found out when he woke up in the middle of the night thinking he heard robbers just to find out that it was the two of us. He had woken up because of my scream. I had screamed by accident because on that night Link had been telling me about one of his adventures that was terrifying about an old witch that had cast a spell on all the wild creatures of the area in order to get rid of the people in the town. Just as he was getting to the part where he had found himself at the bottom of a pit battling a large wolf one howled out in the distance scaring me. After my father had found us he decided that Link's work was too easy if he could stay up at night telling me "ghost stories". So he gave Link a lot more work to do. It got so bad that Link began to fall asleep at dinner time (I had convinced my father to let Link have dinner with me instead of eating whatever he could cook in his small room in the barn). It hurt that my father was pushing Link to his limit just because I liked him. Then market day came along.

It lifted my depressing mood every time when I think of how Link and I got to spend the whole day together. I got up early as usual and practically skipped to the barn. When I arrived to the barn I was surprised to find that Link wasn't up yet. Usually he got up way before me and was ready to go by the time I came out. Confused I knock on Link's door. When there was no response I began to get a little worried.

"Link," I called. "Are you ready to go?"

A moan came from the other side of the door. "Malon go without me," I heard him call faintly.

This just increased my worry. "Link I'm coming in," I called turning the door knob. I stepped into Link's room. "Oh my gods!" I exclaimed. My eyes widened. Link was lying in his bed, breathing heavy and his face flushed with fever. I raced over to him. "Link! Oh my gods, ohmy gods!" I started fretting putting my hand on his forehead. He was burning up and sweating. His eyes were distant and unfocused. Link, strong, sweet, cool Link never looked as helpless as he did now.

"Malon," he croaked. "It's okay, I'm just a little sick, I'll be fine you need to go to the market,".

My heart caught in my throat. His voice was so weak, he was so weak and yet he was still putting on a brave face for me. Along with my worry, anger began to boil in me. This was all my father's fault! He had been working Link too hard. I had to stop this. I rose from my knees.

"'ll be right back Link," I said coldly. I went back to the house. I can't say exactly what happened in the house, but let's just say half an hour later my very scared father was heading off to the market in my place. For the next few days I took care of Link, making sure he made a 100% recovery from his fever, leaving my father to do all the work. Every now and then though he would come to Link's room to argue with me, but I would just shoot an icy look over my shoulder and he would leave as quickly as possible. After 4 days rest Link went back to work and my father made sure not to push him as hard. He also got rid of the schedule chart and let us work together again.

It felt pretty good to have life back to normal again and a few days later we set off for the market again as usual. We got to the market, set up our booth and got to work. Everyone was happy to see the two of us again instead of my dad who was a terrible salesman.

Of course, with going to the market always has one major setback. Sethe. We had hardly been there an hour when he showed his face and tried to flirt with me. Again.

"Morning dear Malon," he greeted me with his usual sleazy smile. "I missed seeing you around here last week," He winked at me and I tried not to gag. Since he was already making me sick, I decided to cut his chatter short.

"Here you go," I said "Three bottles of milk, thirty rupees. Thank you and come again," I put my fake smile on. I heard Link laughing quietly behind me.

Sethe was persistent today though. "Come on Malon, why don't you come take a walk with me today?" He leaned closer.

"Why do you always ask me when I'm working," I shot back. "Even if I wanted to, I can't and I don't want to anyways. Ever," I glared at him.

Sethe glared right back. "I'm warning you now, you do not want to push me," he practically hissed.

"Maybe she doesn't," Link said as he came over. "But I think I'd like to,"

"Seems like someone has become close to Malon," Sethe replied

"Closer than you'll ever be," was Link's retort.

I could feel the tension in the air. "All right guys just back off okay? No need to fight," I put up my hands in between them. Bad choice.

Sethe grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. "Your right Malon. We don't have to, if you come with me now,"

Link moved faster than I could think. In one motion, he pulled me from Sethe's grip and got between me and him. "Leave," he told him simply. "Now,"

Sethe's eyes flared. "Fine, you asked for it," Instantly his eyes filled with terror and he started screaming, grabbing his wrist. Link froze.

The guards started to come over and Sethe screamed in accusation. "Help me! This guy is trying to take my fiancée! And he's hurt me, he's dangerous!" Link head snapped around as he watched the guards closing in. Then without a word to me he grabbed my hand and ran away from the stand and into the town.

"_Link?" _I thought in shock._ "What's going on?"_ but I was given no answer as we ran.

**Author's Note: Hey guys! You're probably wondering why I'm reposting this chapter. Again. Well, it's because when I reposted it the last time I erased the end of the chapter by accident. Oops. Well enjoy!**


	6. The Truth About Fairy Tales

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.6

"_This is a dream,"_ I kept telling myself "_There is no way that this is real_,". There was no way that it wasn´t. I could tell that I was awake and I bet that if I pinched myself it would hurt. As it was I could vividly feel my feet slap against the cobble stone street, the wind rush through my hair and Link holding on to my hand as he pulled me into the busy streets of the Hyrule castle town. We were darting through the crowd trying to get away from the guards that were chasing us. I looked back and saw that the guards were having a harder time then us getting through the crowd with all their armor and weapons. Suddenly Link pulled me down an ally road and behind some crates while the guards ran past. When I was sure that the last guard was out of earshot I turned to Link.

"What is going on Link?" I whispered through clenched teeth.

He looked down at me confused. "We´re running from the guards so that we don´t get arrested,".

"That´s not what I mean Link!" I said a little louder "I mean why are we running when we haven´t done anything!"

Suddenly Link´s hand was around my mouth and he whispered "Shhhhh!" as the guards ran past again. I resisted the urge to bite him. I almost did too when after the guards had run past and he didn´t remove it. Instead I reached up and took his hand off my mouth and continued our hushed discussion.

"Link you better tell me what the hell is going right now!"

He looked down at me, saw my furious face and sighed. "All right, just hold on one minute,". With that he let go of me and crossed over to and old looking building that I recognized as the Happy Mask Shop that had closed quite a while ago. I was about to tell Link this when he produced a key from the pouch at his side and turned the lock. He opened the door, then motioned for me to follow him. Curious I entered the shop and Link closed the door behind him, locking it tight. I opened my mouth to talk but Link shook his head from side to side. He motioned again for me to follow him as he walked knock on the stones. Completely confused now I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing and to see if he had possibly lost his mind when he grinned triumphed and put his hand between two of the bricks. Slowly he dragged the stone from its place and I saw that it was hallow. When I looked back at the space it had come from I saw a door handle in it. Link then produced another key from his pouched and unlocked this door as well.

With a small hiss the door slowly opened from the stone and we went inside. Once the door was opened Link replaced the brick over the door handle and motioned for me to enter. I went in and Link entered after me. It was completely dark in the room and a little creepy until Link struck his flint on a piece of wood to light it and then went to light the various lamps hanging in the room. Once they were all burning Link came back to where I was standing and sat down. I followed his lead and sat down as well feeling that we were going to be here for quite awhile.

"Okay Link we´re are now hiding from the Hyrule guards in a hidden supply room for something we didn´t do that I could easily clear up. So can you now please tell me what is going on?" I asked as calmly as I could manage. "This isn´t like you to run away from a problem, especially such a small one,"

Link looked at me for a few seconds. "Malon," he said "Are you mad at me?"

I was taken aback. Did I sound mad? "No!" I said quickly "No, I´m not mad, just confused,".

"Okay then," said Link "I´m glad you´re not mad. It will make this easier to explain if you´re not angry at me. What you need to know first is that I didn´t run away from the guards because of Sethe," When he saw my confused look he continued.

"I ran because I can´t go to the castle," he said.

"What?" I said even more confused. Why wouldn´t Link want to go to the castle? He was after all, a favorite of the royal family and had he been born of noble blood, he probably would have married the princess and been King some day.

"Before I tell you why I can´t go, tell me, what do you know about the kingdom of Cycania?" he asked.

"Cycania? You mean from the fairy tale? What does that have to do with this and you? It´s just a story to entertain children." When I saw that his face was serious I sighed and continued on to tell the story. "Way back, before the Great War of Hyrule, the kingdom was much larger then it is now. There was another part of the kingdom, supposedly where the mountains formed called Cycania. However the Cycanians were not happy with how the King treated them and waged a civil war. It wasn´t as big as the Great War that happened when we were just babies, but it was much worse as it was brother against brother. Eventually the gods separated the two countries and placed another country between them so that the fighting would stop and put a spell so that the Hyrulians and Cycanians could never again meet the end. What about it?" I said now slightly frustrated.

"Termina" said Link

I scrunched up my eyebrows. "What?" I said confused again. "What does the country where you stopped the moon from falling have to do with this?"

"Just remember for later," said Link "for after I´m done explaining. Now let´s say that Cycania really did exist. You would imagine that the royal family would do anything to get information on them right? Also visa versa the Cycanians would want the same."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure Link and I´m the fairy queen. What does this have to do with us and the guards and you refusing to go to the castle? Also, while I´m asking questions where did you get the key for the Happy Mask shop and how did you find out about this room and wha-!" Before my very eyes Link was beginning to change. His skin became a little dark and his hair went black. His usually blue eyes turned gold and his teeth seemed to shine white. "Li-i-nk?" I stuttered.

Link looked down at himself. "Oh shit," he said "That´s not good. I thought I had a little more time before the spell wore off." When he saw my scared face he quickly reassured me. "It´s okay, it's not permanent. I will be fine, though I don't know when I'll turn back. Just let me finish my story. Remember when I told you that I went to Termina mainly to find my fairy but got sidetracked by the falling moon?" I nodded and he continued. "Well I didn´t find my fairy in Termina and continued on my way. Eventually I found my way into another country, a country not found on any maps anywhere. Can you guess which country this was?"

Suddenly it hit me. Why Link had run from the guards, why he had been gone for so long and why he had changed all of a sudden. Except that it didn´t make sense. It was just a story. Though I had been finding out lately that just because it was a story to us didn´t mean it wasn´t true. I wondered just how many fairy tales were part of life and how much we still had to learn. Because there was only one place Link could have ended up for all of this to be happening.

I looked into Link´s now golden eyes. "Cycancia," I breathed.

Link looked back. "Cycania," he confirmed.

**Author´s note: Here we go guys! Now we´re getting into the the main plot! Thanks for sticking around this long I know it´s not that good but I really think it´s going to get much better!**

**Author's note 2: Hey guys! I'm sure your confused about why I reposted this chapter and it's mainly because of a point that was brought to my attention a while ago about me not explaining Link's changes. I still can't but I did change part of the story to help make more sense. **


	7. Story Time in the Happy Mask Shop

After the Battles are Done

Ch.7

_A flash of light illuminated the sky, showing the outline of a lone figure in the darkness. Hear heavy tears were hidden by the rain and her sobs masked by the claps of thunder. The rain mixed with the blood on the ground washing it away into mud. She began to stumble away from the crushed wagon and bodies of her family. If she had only been five minutes earlier she would be joining them right now. She stopped for a minute and went back to the wreckage. She looked through it until she found what she was looking for. Slowly she started to dig a hole with the shovel she found. Then she dug two more. When she had finished she picked up a strip of cloth and found a bowl to fill with water. Slowly she turned to the bodies of her father, mother and elder sister. This would be the hardest part. She walk and knelt down next to her mother first. Trembling, she began to wipe the blood and dirt from her mother´s face. Once again the tears began to run down her face. Suddenly she turned away and vomited on the ground, shudders running through her body. She couldn´t do this, not her own family. She collapsed on the ground sobbing._

_Sunddenly strong hands grabbed her from the ground and instanly she panicked. Was it the robbers? Had they come back to finish the job? She began to fight against the arms carrying her, but they didn´t let go. She kept fighting when she noticed other shadows emerging from the darkness. She stopped her struggling. If it was the robbers she wouldn´t be able to beat this many. She watched as they walked over to the wreckage and began to finish what she had started. They cleaned and buried the bodies of her family, then began to pick up what they could from the wreckage. When there was almost nothing left they came over to the man that was holding her. _

_"Damn robbers" said one "They did a pretty thorough job, they´re getting bolder. Killing a whole family this time,"_

_"Well, almost the whole family," said another "What makes this one so special? I don´t even see a scratch on her,"_

_"Shush," said the one holding her "We´ll get the answers in time. Right now she´s in shock. So get her stuff and lets get going,"_

_"Yes boss," responded the group._

_"It´s all right now," said the man holding her "Your going to be all right. Just go to sleep. We´ll protect you," The man held her tighter and the girl looked up to his face. She was surprised to see that this man looked quite different then anyone she had ever seen. His hair was as dark as the night sky and his eyes were pools of gold that held kindess in their depths. She was very tired and felt that she could trust this man with the golden eyes. Slowly she felt her eyes close and she drifted off into a deep sleep._

----xXx----

I stared at Link. I blinked, rubbed her eyes and stared again. Link looked up. His now tan face and golden eyes showed obvious discomfort to the fact that I was still at him. Now that Link had changed into a completely changed in apperance I couldn´t help but stare.

"What?" he asked not looking me in the eyes.

"Let me get this right so far," I said "The land in our fairy tales, Cycania, is real," Link nodded "And even though by some kind of "ancient magic" people of Hyrulian blood can´t even enter into Cycania you managed to get in," Again Link nodded "And in order to keep the countries seperate the gods created Termina in the middle and the people there have never even heard of either country?" I said. Here Link shook his head.

"No, the Terminan people know that Cycania exist and often have traders from Cycania in town. The only people they don´t know about is the Hyrulians. Actually you would be amazed how much of the world doesn´t know about Hyrule. I thought that is was Cycania in a little bubble disconnected from the rest of the world. Then I saw that it was Hyrule in a bubble. The gods have almost kept everyone else from Hyrule, probably because of the Triforce power here," he said holding up his hand in demonstration.

Suddenly I gasped. I jumped up and pointed to the triforce on Link´s hand. "Link!" I shrieked "Your hand!"

Link looked confused for a minute. "Malon, what are you freakinging out about? You´ve seen the triforce on my hand hundreds of times. Why are you freaking out now?"

I gulped. "Oh, I don´t know," I said casually "Maybe cause I´ve never seen it glow?!?" Link looked down at his hand and his eyes grew large.

"Oh crap!" he exclaimed "Oh crap that is not good!" Instantly he reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of cloth and wraped it around his hand. Then he motioned to me to be quiet and slowly crept to the wall facing the street. I followed after him and saw that there was a little slide door over a window. He motioned for me to stand on the other side. Standing completly still he slowly slid the door open and peered out. He drew back quickly. "Crap!" he swore quietly.

"What is it? What did you see?" I whispered as I looked out the minute. My eyes widened. There, riding by was no other than the princess herself. Her hand facing us was also glowing with the power of the triforce. Quickly I drew back and slid the door shut. Instantly Link and I backed up to the far wall. I knew that Link didn´t want to be found by Zelda though he still hadn´t explained why. Though when looking at him it was pretty obvious why. Still, it would be nice to know why completely.

"Okay," I said "The princess is outside using the triforce to find you. So you explain to me right now why she can´t find you," I said.

"Fine," said Link but we have to do so quickly. It´s only a matter of time before she finds us," when I didn´t say anything he continued "All right, as I told you I have been to Cycania. I was there for some time and know a lot about the country. I have people all over Cycania that owe me favors and a lot of people there who are not happy with Hyrule. So if Zelda finds me it will not be good. I could be considered a traitor by the Hyrulian counsel for helping so many countries, especially Cycania," he said.

"So if you are found you will probably be arrested," I said. Link nodded "All right then, but that doesn´t explain why you have changed apperance. Link shook his head.

"That´s going to have to wait for later," siad Link "Right now we have to figure out how to get rid of the guards and Zelda from tracking us and... Malon what are you doing?" asked Link because while he had been talking I had gotten up and was now heading to the door.

"I´m going to clear our names. The princess has no reason to arrest me so it´s only logial that I go alone," I said "Then while I´m being questioned you can sneak back to the ranch and tell my father what his "decision making" got me into," I finished unlocking the secreat door.

Link sat completely still, a frown on his still handsome, if somewhat different face. Suddenly he got up ran to me and grabbed me into a big hug. He held me close for a minute, then let me go. His golden eyes wer now filled with worry.

"Be careful" he said.

I was a little suprised. I was sure Link would have fought against my plan. "Your going to let me go," I said in disbelief.

Link sighed. "I might not like it," he said "but I do see your point. You are the only one who can do this. Plus," he said with a small smile "After how you handled Sethe in the market place today I´m positive you can handle Zelda," Then his eyes filled with worry again "Stay safe," he said.

I smiled at him "I´ll be fine and when all this is over I´ll be back on the ranch with you again,". With that I opened the door and stepped into the shop´s main room. As quietly as possible I closed the secret door and crept towards the door. I peered through a window and saw no guards around. So I slowly opened the main door and snuck into the street. It was quite dark now. I closed the door behind me and walked briskly to the main road. The guards not seeing where I had come from was vital to them not finding Link. It didn´t take long to find the guards with the princess. I took a deep breathe and stepped from the shadows.

"My highness Princess Zelda," I called. Instantly the guards turned around. "It´s me, Malon turning myself in to clear my name," I said. Then I began to walk towards the group. When I reached them I looked up at Zelda. Her gray eyes seemed to peer into my soul. It sent a chill down my spine.

"They say that the innocent always turn themselves, so where is your so called lover?" she asked coldly.

To this I laughed. "You must mean the farm hand that was helping me at the market today. I sent him back to the ranch to tell my father what was happening. He is of no importance to this matter," I said in a bored tone.

Zelda studied me for a minute and I held her gaze. "Very well, a short questioning session should clear this quickly. Let us head to the castle," She motioned for one of the guards to help me onto his horse. When I was on she tuned to me again. "By the way, the one that calls you his fiancee is already there.

To this I acted confused "I have no fiancee that I remember your highness. The poor soul must be mistaken," I said. To this the guards chuckled and Zelda allowed a small smile on her face. Then she gave a signal to the guards to start moving and we were on our way to the castle.


	8. Trial at the Castle and Road Trips

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.8

_The girl was gathering wood when she saw the first shadow move. Instanly she dropped the wood, grabbed her bow and knotched an arrow. She wainted, tense with anticipation, watching the shadows all around her. Cain had warned her that even though they were almost out of the forest, there were still plenty of robbers around. Yet she had stupidly gone to get wood alone. Hadn't Cain told her to always go with someone else?_

_"Oh well," she muttered to herself "Too late now," Still she couldn't help but feel that she wanted them to come, so that she could avenge her family's death. Slowly she spun in a tight circle looking all around her. When a few minutes had passed and nothing happened she began to relax. "must have been an animal," she thought to herself breathing out slowly. She bet down to start collecting her wood back up, beginning to place her arrow back into the quiver. She was just about to take her hand off the shaft when she heard the sound of a stick being crunched under foot. Quickly the arrow was back in her hand and knotched. She spun to the source of the sound and let the deadly arrow fly into the shadows. She heard the sound of the arrow hitting wood and quickly knotched another arrow. This time she waited. Her eyes darted between shadows and she had begun to move away when she saw movement in the shadows again. She smiled._

_"Gotcha," she whispered and let the arrow go. It shot foward and whatever was there moved out of the way just in time. She knotched another arrow from her quiver and prepared to shoot again. Just as she was about to let it fly, a voice called out._

_"Wait!"_

_She faltered and the arrow hit the ground inches from the person's foot._

_"Oh shit, that was close!" said whoever was hiding "Just hold on a bit and no more shooting please!" came a very strained voice. However, the voice also held a bit of sarcasm in it's depth that annoyed the girl._

_"Fine," she said "Then come out where I can see you," she waited._

_Slowly a boy stepped out of the shadows a cocky look on his face. "He's not even taking me seriously," she thought and her annoyment grew. Whoever this kid was he was getting on her already frayed nerves and she had only know him for about five seconds. What annoyed her the most was the fact that he looked so much like Cain who had found her and taken her in. This boy shouldn't look anything like the kind man who now was her guardian. Of course such resemblence was hardly ever common with complete strangers so that could only mean on thing. She was seriously hoping she was wrong._

_"You can put your bow down, I'm not going to hurt you. I was sent to find you by Cain. He's my dad," said the boy._

_Nope she was right. This was the son that Cain had told her about. The one that had gone on a hunting trip and would be joining them from now on. "I think you and him are going to be good friends," he had said. Yeah right._

_"Um, hello? Please stop pointing your bow at me," said Cain's son who's cocky smile and sarcasm was now gone. She snapped back and looked at him. He was kind of cute and it felt like he was telling the truth. As long as they were traveling together she might as well try to be friendly. She put the arrow back into her quiver and the hung the bow back on her back. The boy relaxed and held out his hand._

_"Cithe. Like key-they," he said smiling again._

_She took his hand and shook. "Elsia. Like el-see-ya," she said "but you could probably guess that,"._

_Cithe smiled " All right then! I guess we should head back then. Dad seems worried about you," he began to help her collect the wood she had dropped. Then they began to walk back._

_He talked a lot about how he and his dad had become travelers, about hunting, about where he was born. He seemed completly at ease around someone he had just met. His sense of trust was really weird._

_"How come you were spying on me?" she blurted out. it was something that had been troubling her._

_"Huh?" he said a bit confused at first then understanding came to him. "Oh right! I wanted to see what kind of person you were," he paused then grinned "You have a beautiful singing voice by the way," _

_She blushed deeply. She had been singing while she had been collecting wood. "Tha-Tha-" _

_"Hey I'm serious, you're really good. Much better then any of the other people I've heard sing," said Cithe he said with a wide grin._

_"Thanks I guess," she said. He seemed nice enough to her. _

_Maybe traveling with him wouldn't be so bad after all._

----xXx----

The road up to the castle was long and winding with guards at attention at every turn. There was an eerie silence up to the castle as if the world had turned to stone. It creeped me out alittle. So I tryed to start some small talk with the princess.

"So, nice night huh highness," I said nervously.

Zelda looked over to me. "Yes it is a rather beautiful night. All the stars in the heavens are shining down on us. A sure sign for peace, don't you think?" she said with an air of authority.

"Yes highness," I said. "_Wow_" I thought "_The princess is kind of scary,_". I took in a slow breathe and spent the rest of the ride in silence.

When we arrived to the castle we were ushered in quietly. The guards traveling with us dismounted and began to lead the horses to the stables. My guard helped me down from the horse then went to stables as well. Which lest me alone with the princess.

"Come," she said to me, motioning that I was to follow. We entered through the main doors of the castle and walked straight to the main hall. Waiting in the main hall was a small group of guards and my so called "fiancee" Sethe. Just seeing him made me shudder and it only got worse when he walked over to me with a triumphent look on his face.

"Malon, my flower," he crooned going to hug me. I dodged quickly out of the way of his arms.

I spat at him "I told you before I'm not your anything. What stupid crap are you trying to pull Sethe? Dragging us all the way to the castle and taking up her higness's time," I glared at him, then turned to the princess "I apoligize your highness,"

"You have nothing to apoligize for Malon," said Zelda "By the way when you get back home could you tell your father to send up an extra crate of milk to the castle?"

"Gladly your highness," I said.

"Now then let us get started," said Zelda "I will simply ask the two of you some questions and I wish that you would both answer them truthfully," She turned to me "Let us start with the simple questions. Malon you will go first. What is your age?"

"I turned 16 a few days ago highness," I said. Wow, with everything that had been going on I had completly forgotten my birthday.

"All right, that means that you are not yet of legal marriage age," said Zelda pausing to write it down. "Sethe, how old are you?"

"18 turning 19 in three days," he said puffing out his chest. I surpressed the feeling of barfing.

"Fasinating," said Zelda with a bored tone."Okay next question. How long have you to known eachother?"

"Three years," I replied at the same time that Sethe said "Five years,".

Zelda looked at Sethe frowning as did I. Sethe turning red. " What do you mean Sethe? I didn't meet you until I started going to the market with my dad when I was 13,"

Sethe looked at the ground. "Yes, but I started spying on you whenever you went with your dad to the castle," he said quietly.

"All right then," said Zelda making a note on the piece of parchment. She looked up. "All right Malon,next question..." and so it when on for quite some time. Zelda would ask about how we knew eachother, our feelings for eachother, and so on. It went on for what seemed like hours. Eventually Zelda stopped the questioning. "From what I have gathered," she started "I have come to believe that you two are defenitly not a couple of any kind so Malon you are free to go," she said as she waved her hand towards me.

"What about me?" asked Sethe.

"Well according to Hyrule law, I need to talk to you about why you tried to get Malon arrested and about trying to date someone underaged," said Zelda "Which means you need to stay here," she said, a weary expression on her face. While Sethe stood there in disbelief she calle dover one of the guards "Make sure Malon gets home safely," she said. The guard nodded and began for the door with me right behind him. Last minute I turned to the princess.

"Good night your highness and once again I am so sorry for wasting your time," I said.

Zelda shook her head "Do not worry about it Malon," said Zelda. I turned to go "Oh, and Malon," she said. I turned back"You may tell Link that I will be paying a visit to him soon," she said with a cold smile "That is all," she turned back to Sethe who was now very confused.

I felt chilled as I went back to the main courtyard. I entered prepared to ride back home with one of the guards and was met with a surprise that chased away my chills. Waiting in the courtyard was the ranch wagon and driving it was no other than Link himself. Okay he didn't exactly look like Link at the moment but it was Link none the less. I quickly got in the passenger's seat and Link began to pull away from the castle, nodding to the guards politly as they opened the gates. When we were out of earshot I turned to him.

"Are you crazy? Do you want to get yourself captured? What if they had recognized you? How would it help the plan if you got yourself caught?" I started rambling. Link just focused on the road while I went on and on about how dangerous it was for him to go anywhere near the castle. After a while he looked over to me.

"Are you done?" he asked calmly. When I just sat there in silence he started."First any time you are in danger it does srive me crazy. Second I am much too fast for any one of those heavily armored guards and third the last time anyone at that castle had seen me I was a third of the height I am now and had blues eyes, blonde hair and paler skin. So if thats all you were worried about it's okay now as we are out of there no harm done as you were obviously not found guilty," he explained.

For some reason this just made me angrier but I decided not to say anything. Instead I changed the subject "So what did my father say when you told him that I was at the castle cause of Sethe?" I asked.

"Well at first he blamed me. You know, because I was suppose to stay away from you. Then he was mad at Sethe for putting you in danger. Eventually though he got to thinking that maybe this was a good thing because it might force you to be with Sethe," Link said.

I was in shock. I couldn't believe I was hearing this. "When I get home..." I started to seethe. I was so furious! My father thought that getting arrested was going to actually make me like Sethe more? Was he crazy? Just thinking about it made me so made my whole body seemed to be heating up. Then I realized that it wasn't me it was actually getting warmer. I looked around and realized that this was defenitly not the way home. I turned to Link. "Ummm... Where are we going?" I asked confused.

"On a vacation," Link said not looking at me. I raised my eyebrow. He sighed "Your dad was all ready to go to the castle and tell the princess that you had been given permission to marry Sethe and that you were just confused, but I beat him to the wagon which was already packed," Link started to explain "He was going to marry you off sooner then he had originally planned because of me. so we're going to stay at a friend's village just outside of Hyrule for a few days," I let my mouth drop open. This was getting better and better wasn't it?

"I guess thats okay," I said trying to keep my cool. There would be plenty of time to blow up at my father when we got back. "So where are we going?" I asked.

"Why don't you look ahead?" said Link gestering in front of us. Confused I turned my head to the front. At first I didn't see anything, but after a few minutes I saw what Link was showing me.

My eyes grew wide with wonder.


	9. Meeting the Crew in the Canyon

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.9

_"Elsia, where are you Elsia?" _

_The girl turned around. She was back in the forest clearing again. "Hello?" she called._

_"Why did you leave us Elsia?" called the voice._

_"Papa, is that you?" she called out._

_"Elsia sweetie you need to come back to us. Come back to us after you've revenged us," said another voice._

_"Mama, where are you?" she called again._

_"Poor little Elsi, always getting lost in the woods," came her sister's voice "Don't worry, you'll come back to us soon enough,"_

_"No-o I-I can't," said Elsia_

_"Come to us,"_

_"Join us,"_

_"Revenge us,"_

_"No!" sobbed Elsia covering her ears "No I can't! I'm too small and you're dead! I can't do anything! Leave me alone!"_

_"Elsia wake up!"_

_Elsia woke up to the face of a very concerned Cithe who was shaking her awake. She was sleeping in her bed in the back of the wagon. She was breathing hard and her covers had fallen to the floor from where she had kicked them off. "Just a dream," she told herself._

_Cithe looked at her. "Are you okay?" he asked "You were mumbling in your sleep then you started screaming and thrashing. Were you having a bad dream?'_

_She looked towards him and felt her face flush red. This was just great. Cithe was feeling sorry for her and she definitly didn't need his sympathies. "I'm just fine," she snapped snatching her covers from the floor and turning away from him. She stared at the wall until she started to hear Cithe snoring again. Slowly she fell back into sleep with more nightmares._

_She woke up in the morning to the smell of food being cooked. She bolted up in her bed. "Cooking?" she thought as she rushed out of bed. She was the only one who cooked for the wagon. So either another woman from the caravan was cooking or Cain was trying to burn breakfast again. No sooner had the possibility entered her mind when the smell of food cooking turned into the smell of food burning. She rushed outside just in time to see Cain coughing next to the campfire where the eggs he had again forgotten to stir were burning and causing quite a bit of smoke. She quickly grabbed the frying pan from the flames and stirred the eggs. After she saved breakfast the best that she could she turned to Cain whose golden eyes were still watering from the smoke. _

_She sighed "Mr. Cain what were you thinking? If you were hungry why didn't you wake me up instead of trying to attempt cooking again?" she asked._

_Cain smiled sheepishly "Well I was going to but Cithe said you had a hard time sleeping last night so I thought why not let you sleep and surprise you with breakfast," he said._

_"Well I'm definitly surprised," Elsia said "And I am definitly getting Cithe back later," she thought to herself. She didn't need special treatment just because she had had a few bad dreams last night._

_Just at that moment Cithe emerged from the woods nearby. "So where's breakfast?" he asked smiling at Elsia. Then his sight fell on the pan of burnt eggs and his smile fell. He turned to his dad "Please tell me that you didn't cook this morning and that Elsia just added a different ingrediant to make them that way," When his dad turned from him he groaned._

_Elsia turned to him "This is your fault for telling your dad to let me sleep because now we all need to eat the burned eggs. In fact you can have the ones that are all black," she said scooping him a huge portion of eggs with a smile._

_"I don't feel very hungry anymore," said Cithe._

_"Too bad," said Elsia happily "But you know, you're right. You can't eat it just like this...," Cithe began to relax "You need veggies to so here you go!" said Elsia sprinkling wild herbs she had found over his food. "Now that will certianly kick up the flavor," she said as she sprinkled more herbs on the other to plates._

_"Yum," said Cithe glumly picking at his eggs._

_"Morning all," came a voice._

_"Leonel!" boomed Cain getting up to greet his second in command. "Won't you join us for breakfast?" _

_Leonel was a rather tall man, almost as tall as Cain and very muscular. His appitite was just as big as he was and it wasn't often he turned down a meal. However today was one of his few exceptions._

_"I think not sir," he said gravely looking at the eggs "I saw quite a bit of smoke and came to investigate. Just looking at the eggs gives me the whole story. Why do you even try Cain?"_

_Cain chuckled "You know me Leonel. If at first you don't succeed..."_

_"Yes but sir what if you don't succeed the first hundred times?" asked Leonel jokingly earning himself a swipe at the back of the head from Cain. _

_"I thought you were suppose to respect your commander," said Cain in mock seriousness. He turned to us shaking his head "See what I have to put up with these days? Longer I keep these people from home the less respect I get," He turned to Leonel who was looking on with bemusement. "Well then what do you say we get this show on the road? Give the word that we are heading out Leonel," Leonel gave Cain a salute and turned to go. Half an hour later we were on the road again, heading over the hills. _

_Elsia and Cithe amused themselves with cards in the back as the bumped along the road. _

_"So," said Elsia "You haven't exactly told me much about where we're heading,"._

_"Nope I guess not," said Cithe dealing the deck out. "I forget you've never been there, being a Hyrulian," he said with fake disgust._

_Elsia rolled her eyes "Wow how terrible. Please forgive this poor dumb girl for never hearing of you're beautiful paradise Oh Great One,"._

_Cithe sat back. "I wouldn't go that far," he said with that easy smile of his. "It's certianly a paradise but you don't need to go so low as to call yourself dumb," Elsia raised her eyebrow "Ignorant maybe but certianly not dumb. At least not all the time," he said laughing as he dodged the pillow that Elsia threw at him. _

_"Ugh you can be such an ass," she said._

_"Hey hey watch who you call an ass," said Cithe faking anger "Don't you know who your addressing?"_

_"Oh gods, not this again," groaned Elsia putting her head on her forehead._

_Cithe stood up, foot on the small table, began to repeat for the 17th hundreth time his lineage. "Yes, I am no less Sir Cithe, son of Lady Surora Grandson of Lord Daitu, desendent of the first king of Cycania King Reabu the 1st. Thus I am nobility and have sworn to protect the land of Cycania. No one will stand in my way! I will slay all enemies and I will always defend the weak...". Elsia just sat there as Cithe went through his speech, already bored. Luckily just as Cithe was getting to how great he was as a son of nobility they hit a pot hole that caused Cithe to fall from his post onto his butt._

_Elsia tried as hard as she could but try as she might she couldn't help but burst into laughter that caused her to hold her sides. "So my lord," she gasped through her laughter. "How does one feel falling on his butt in front of this poor ignorant girl," she said still laughing at him. He tried to look mad but couldn't help but burst into laughter too. They were still laughing minutes later when Cain called for them._

_"I'd hate to break up this little party," he said looking through the curtian in the front "but we're about to pass over the last hill into Cycania and I wanted you kids to see it,". Cithe and Elsia pulled themselves together and went to the front. "So," he said turning towards them "What's so funny?" _

_"Oh nothing really," said Cithe staring out into space. Cain stared at Cithe for a moment then turned to Elsia._

_"He fell on his hiney," she said simply._

_"Oh," said Cain trying to hide a smile. Then he sat straight up looking forward "Well here we go. When we get to the top of the hill we'll be able to see Cycania," said Cain enthusiasticly._

_Instantly Elsia craned her neck waiting to see what the future held for her over the hill._

----xXx----

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We had driven into a canyon with walls that rose hundreds of feet above our heads and the whole canyon wall was riddled with tunnels and houses on ledges that were attached with bridges. It was a village in the canyon, an impossible feat. There were even lifts along the walls in order to get higher.

"Wow," was all that I could muster.

Link looked as impressed as I was, but not surprised. "Well they certianly built this faster then I thought they would," he said in awe.

I turned to him. "This was the village you were talking about?" I asked.

"Yep," he said looking around. "Now where is Riki and the group?".

"Is that your friend's name?" I asked. Link nodded. "And let me guess, he and other friends of yours built this whole village," Again Link nodded. I just sat back in wonder, still looking at the village. Then something dawn on me. "Are all of your friends from Cycania?"

"No not all of them. Some of them are from other, smaller kingdoms such as Termina. Though yes, most of them are from Cycania," said Link.

"Then what are they doing here?" I asked "I'm not exactly sure but it seems that Cycania is rather far from here,". Link ignored my question as he focused on the road ahead where shapes were heading towards us. Soon it was obvious that the shapes were Links friends. Smiling Link jumped off the wagon to welcome them.

"Riki!" he greeted one of the taller people. "How you been?".

"Eh you know Link, working. Working on the village, working on the plans, working working working," Riki sighed.

"Oh shut up you big baby," scolded a shorter person, obviously a girl. "All you've been doing is planning and leaving all the real work to the rest of us. Don't listen to him cousin, all he does these days is lie around reading. Gods know how I put up with him," said the girl.

"How you been Marei?" said Link giving her a hug. If she hadn't just said that she was Link's cousin I would have been a little jealous. "Guys I can see that you all have been working really hard while I've been gone these past months,"

"Hey Link!" said Riki looking past him at me sitting in the wagon. "Who is the cutie with you?" Marei smacked him in the back of the head as Link turned to me and motioned for me to join him. I got out and walked over, feeling a little shy.

"Hello," I said timidly looking at the group in front of me. They all chorused their hello's.

"Guys this is Malon," said Link "I've been staying at her ranch while I was in Hyrule,"

One of the other girls in the groups stepped foward to shake my hand. She was very pretty with straight brown hair that fell to her shoulders and eyes that were a stormy sea gray. She smiled at me but for some reason that smile didn't reach her eyes and her hand was vice like on mine.

"Hello there Malon, I'm Hyra. My," she said staring at me. "Arn't you pretty little thing," she said with sincerity dripping from her voice. "Just like so many other pretty little things Link seems to collect," she smiled again. I felt a little intimidated by this girl and took a step a little closer to Link, who didn't seem to notice any of this. He turned to me to introduce the rest of group.

"As you probably already know this is Riki. He's a bit of a bookworm,". Riki bowed and kissed my hand.

"Mi'lady," he said.

"This is my cousin Marei,". She gave me a warm smile and nodded.

"Hyra just greeted you," Link continued. "Then this is our mentor Leonel," He also kissed my hand.

"And this is Togi," he said motioning towards a younger kid with spiked gold hair.

"Sup," he said grinning wide.

"These are the twins Sirah and Kirah," he smiled towards two girls with short red hair and emerald eyes.

"Hi!" They said together.

"And last but not least this is Walen," said Link pointing towards another tall guy with dark hair that fell into his eyes. He nodded towards me. "There are more in the canyon but you don't have to worry about them right now. You're probably tired after the long trip,".

"Yeah a little I guess," In fact I was very tired.

"Okay then let's get going," said Link heading back to the wagon. He turned back towards the group. "You get the wagon lift done?"

Hyra skipped foward to Link. "Yes Link," she said in a flirty tone "We all worked really hard to get it ready for when you and it takes you straight to your own privite house. I even made sure to fill it with furniture especially your bedroom because I know just how tired you get with all your hard work saving the world and all," she said batting her eyes.

"Thanks Hyra," said Link with a smile. I felt my gut tighten and my blood boil a little. Who was this girl flirting with Link. Why I ought to...

"Malon!" I blinked back into reality. "I was saying we should head on up,"

"Umm, yeah. Where will I be sleeping?"

Link looked confused. "You're going to sleep at my house," I saw Hyra's face fall "I mean, you know cause we only have enough houses for everyone here and no one else really has room,".

"Thats not true!" blurted out Hyra "I mean she could stay with me. I've got room and I'm sure she would like to stay with another girl. I'm sure we'll be best friends," she said with a fake smile.

"But you're sleeping on the floor of our house," said Kirah.

"Yeah we're already full," said Sirah

"Then how about Marei?" said Hyra desperatly spinning to face her.

"I live with Riki, remember? We're kind of engaged or did you not go to our party last year?" said Marei.

Looking defeated Hyra led the both of us with the wagon lift. First we dropped of the wagon on a lower floor, then headed to Link's house on one of the highest floor.

"Here you are," said Hyra glumly "See you in the morning," With that she sent me one last evil glare which I returned with a smile. Okay, yes I was being cruel but I mean come on. She was being a bitch in my book. So I really couldn't help it.

"Come on Malon," said Link from the front porch. It was a really cute house.

"All right," I said skipping up the steps to the door

"Okay lets see," said Link opening the front door. He began to light the lanterns and I looked around. There was a kitchen/living room area, a small indoor bathroom which I thought was amazing, a closet and a bedroom.

Wait one bedroom? "Umm Link?" I called. He popped his head in from the living area.

"Yes?" he said confused.

"Where am I going to sleep?" I asked.

"In the other bedroom of course," said Link motioning towards me "Right threw this door here... oh. Well thats not good," he called.

"Where is it?" I said staring out the door that led to nothing but the outside.

"I asked Hyra to build a second bedroom in case anyone's house fell or something," said Link "I guess I'll just sleep on the floor then,"

I turned to him "Wait what? This is your house so I should sleep on the floor," I blurted out.

Link was shaking his head. "No I insist," I started to speak again but Link's gold eyes narrowed and I closed my mouth "I insist," he said calmly.

So long story short I ended up sleeping in the bed and Link ended up on the couch that we forgot was in the living area.

"_What a weird day,_" I thought before I fell into a deep sleep.


	10. Bringing the Roof Down

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.10

_The landscape before her was like nothing else Elsia had ever seen before. Miles of grassy plains stretched before her ending at a sparkling blue lake that ended at a deep green canyon wall. A waterfall cascaded over the edge into the lake ending in a mist that seemed to created an eternal rainbow. Trees formed small groves aroung the lake with leaves in many different hues of greens, along with gold and crimsion. Every now and then a house dotted the landscape with smoke curling up from the chimneys. The site of this peaceful and beautiful land took Elsia's breathe away and from the sound of it Cithe's as well. Cain looked over with a knowing smile on his face as he gently guided the carriage down the hillside._

_"So what do you kids think?" he said half joking. They both stared at him. _

_It was Elsia who spoke first "It's amazing," she breathed, staring out at the valley._

_"Cithe?" asked Cain "What do you think of your home country?" For a while Cithe just stared out at the land with a thoughtful look on his face._

_He turned to his father "Which one is it?" he asked._

_"Which one what?" said a confused Elsia._

_Cain smiled "He wants to know which one is the house he was born in and the one his mother is waiting for him," said Cain "Hold on Cithe, we will be there soon and no doubt Surora has a nice meal wating for you. It's been a while since you've seen your mother hasn't it?"._

_"Why have you been gone so long?" asked Elsia "I know your travelers and all but don't you come back every winter?". She didn't understand how anyone could stay away from their family long enough to almost forget them and why Surora just didn't go with them in the first place. _

_Cain raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure by now Cithe has told you his little speech, maybe a few hundred times seeing he tells it wvwry chance he gets," Cithe turned slightly red._

_Elsia rolled her eyes "He might have," she said sarcasticlly._

_"Well then you know by now that his mother is a noble women and sister to the current king. Thus she can't leave the country for political reasons. Also since I am not nobility, it created quite a scandal when I married her and an even bigger one when Cithe was born. So we dissapeared around Cithe's fourth winter and haven't been back for quite sometime let me think," he said staring into space "This is going to be your thirteenth winter right Cithe?" Cithe nodded "So it's been nine winters," said Cain with a sad look in his eyes "Nine long winters,". After that the caravan drove for a little while until they came to a main road and one by one the wagons began to leave the caravan heading back to their home towns and families. Soon it was only Cain and Leonel's wagons left. They continued into the valley and turned down the dirt road closest to the sparkling lake and trees. At the end of it were two houses. One was cottage sized and the other a little closer to the size of a manor. Standing in the doorway of the larger on was an older lady that seemed to be radiating happiness._

_"Is that her?" asked Cithe and Elsia together looking at the women._

_Cain just stared for a minute at her. Finally he answered with a simple "Yes," and jumped from the wagon at the same time the women ran towards him. They embraced and Cain twirled her around laughing and crying. Surora was crying too and for a minute they just stood their holding eachother. Eventually Surora looked up at the kids sitting in the wagon eyes studying their faces. She looked at Elsia in confusion but just for a second as her eyes traveled to Cithe's face. he looked up and nervously smiled._

_Elsia turned to him and whispered "Go and greet her, I'll park the wagon,". Nodding slightly Cithe gave her the reins and slowly got down from the wagon and began to walk towards his mother. When he got there they both just stood there for a minute. She stared at him._

_"Hi Mother," he said nervously._

_Surora eyes widened and her hand went to her mouth "My baby," she whispered and then she was hugging him and crying all over again and he was hugging her back. Watching this touching reunion opened up the familiar hole in Elsia's heart she had had ever since her family died. She parked the wagon next to the house and went back to the front where Cain was talking to Surora who was still holding Cithe close to her. When Elsia appeared she turned towards her with an expression of shock. Cain motioned her over to introduce her._

_"Yes this is Elsia. We found her after her parents and sister were already dead. She's been traveling with us ever since. She doesn't have anywhere else to go" said Cain. _

_"Oh you poor thing," said Surora. "Of course she can stay with us. I'm sure she's wonderful company," she smiled at Elsia "Welcome Elsia, to Cycania and to our house," _

_"Thank you very much Miss Surora," said Elsia a little uncomfortable._

_"Hello there Surora. You all just go on forgetting about me then," said Leonel fimally catching up._

_"Oh Leonel I would never. You always gave me news about my boys while they were away," said Surora "Won't you join us for lunch? I cooked Cain's favorite and I know you like it too,". With that she guided everyone into the house for lunch. _

_"Well it looks like things are going to be okay now," thought Elsia._

----xXx----

"Hello?" I asked, opening the door to Togi's lab slowly. I looked around "Is anyone home?" I called out.

"Behind here," called Togi from the far right corner. I slowly walked around all the debris and tables filled with bottles and tools and such. The place looked like someone had been living here for years instead of a few weeks. When I reached the corner I saw that Togi was working on a giant machine that took up about a fourth of the entire room. His spikey head popped up from behind it. "What's up Malon?" he asked smiling.

"I brought the herbs you asked for. If you don't mind me asking why do you need the root from a bomb-omb?" I asked giving him the basket.

"You'll see in a minute," said Togi excited. Taking the plants he put them into the top of the machine with the help of a ladder. "Okay!," he said, practically bouncing up and down while I watched in amusment while taking a few steps back. "So first the machine seperates the destructive part of the root from the part that keeps it from blowing up when in sleeping stage. This outer layer usually peels away when the bomb is ripe which is why I had to wait for this years crops to have just started growing so the layer would be thick," said Togi rambing while I just stood there waiting. "Anyway so after that the explosive part is put into a a bombchu just so it won't blow up in the machine. They should be coming out now," and sure enough little bombchus were popping out of the machine t"o a storage bin. "So then the protective layer is mashed into a paste that is then twirled into thread-like strings and woven into protective clothes for us to wear. So then we don't all need metel sheilds!" I looked up to wear Togi was holding two cloaks "They come in midnight blue and deep purple, so everyone can have a choice though I did make a special one for our fearless leader," said Togi and with a flourish drew out a hunter green cloak from the machine with dark gold trimming. "Ta-da! So what do you think?" he asked with a huge grin.

I stared at the cloaks in amazement "It's amazing Togi! These can be really helpful," I said picking up the purple one "These are really soft, I would never guess they could protect you from bombs," I said twirling it around my shoulders.

"Yep, well it's time to test them," said Togi picking up the blue one and motioning me to follow him "Oh can you pick up the bombchu crate?" I grabbed it and followed him out the back door onto a ledge about 25 feet from the canyon floor. Togi picked up a device he used to talkto the whole canyon "Attention everyone in the canyon," he said "I am about to run an explosion test so if you could all just clear the area until I give the all clear...," as Togi gave his safety warnings to the canyon I got out the test dummy and put the cloak on it. Then I got behind the shelter and waited. Since coming to the canyon I found that I really loved science and spent alot of time helping Togi. When I wasn't helping Togi I was training with Marei to use the bow and arrow in case of an attack. All and all I didn't get to spend much time to hang with Link except at meal times or in the evening when I went home. I was living in Link's house and they had finished the other room a few weeks ago. While I was waiting for Togi I thought about the fact that we had been here for almost three months and I still didn't know exactly what Link was planning. Truthfully I didn't think Link had much of a plan either. While I was thinking the communication device Togi had invented crackled and Link's voice came on.

"Malon!"

I jumped back into reality and picked up the device which we called the commie. "Hello?" I asked

"Are you going to help with the test?" he asked

"As Togi's helper that's what I'm suppose to do," I said a little annoyed.

"I know I just get worried about you. I always worry and think about you," I felt my heart pump faster as it always does. Then in the background I heard a raised voice.

There was arguingin the back ground for a minute where I could here Hyra talking. She had sword training with him which always irked Malon. However Link always seemed to take her places at night and according to Togi (always good to have an inside guy) Link was only intrested in Malon. Togi also said Hyra was always chasing after Link but wasn't at all Link's type. Just then Link came back on " Sorry for that. Hyra doesn't think I should be distracting you in the middle of the test but she just reminded me about the festival tonight,".

My mind raced. "_That's right,_" I thought. There was a festival tonight to celebrate the new little town's six month exsistance. "What about it," I asked trying to sound casual.

"Well I was wondering if you wanted to go to the festival with me, as a couple," said Link "I know it must be kind of unclassy to ask over the commie but I don't have anyother time to so..."

I couldn't talk for a minute "I-I," I drew in a deep breathe "Of course I'd love to go with you," I said.

"Great! I'll come pick you up after work," said Link happily. Then there was a bit of talking in the background and I heard Hyra's whining voice. Then I heard Link tell her what I said. After that something happened that I never would get over. There was silence for a long time and then Link came back on "Malon," he said quietly "Tell Togi to cover his ears and then cover yours and get away from the edge,".

"Wha-"

"Now," said Link.

I turned to Togi who was in the shelter by now as well and had heard the last part of the conversation. Instantly he grabbed the canyon wide commie and bellowed into it "Code H! This is a code H! Everyone in the canyon get your safety devices and head into your safety shelters! This is not a drill!" Then Togi ran back to the shelter grabbed the door and locked it. Quickly he opened a box that contained a few arced devices with a bowl like shape at each end. Togi put one on his head and over his ears and then on mine. He motioned for me to put my hands on the ends to keep the device secure. Then he closed his eyes and crouched down. I followed his league and waited. The whole world seemed to be on standstill.

Then with no warning a scream filled the air. I realized that the device on my ears was to try and block out sound. I could feel the whole canyon shaking and worried about the shelter falling on us. Then there was a pop as shattered glass fell on us and I almost freaked out. After a few minutes it stopped and I opened my eyes. I looked up a Togi who was up and looking around out the hole where the window had been. He ran out and into the lab. After a few seconds I stood up and glass fell of me. I checked myself and found two cuts on my cheek and a few on my arm but nothing bad. I grabbed the commie but there was nothing but static. Something was interfering with the signal. Togi came back out with a grim look on his face.

"Togi, there's nothing on the commie but static. What's going on?"

"It's something we found out about Hyra shortly after she joined us. What happened was what we call a sonic boom. Technically she has never gotten that loud before but that time she actually did make it," he explained.

"Wait, that sound was Hyra screaming?" I said in disbelief.

"Pretty much," said Togi "We don't know how she does it it just happens. Last time we were all deaf for a week,".

"Wow," was all I had to say.

"Hello?" came a staticy voice on the commie.

I grabbed the commie "Hello? Riki?" I said.

"Hey Malon, you and Togi okay? You guys were the last ones to get signal back," he said.

"Yeah we're fine. A few cuts and scrapes but nothing bad,".

"Good because we need you here, right now," he said.

"What's going on?" I asked already walking with Togi following.

"Well Link and Hyra were practicing in the arena," said Riki. I stopped in my tracks and fear filled my heart.

"Which arena?" I asked calmly and Togi looked up wide eyed at me. There was silence.

"Which arena Riki?" I asked again.

"The one in the cavern," he whispered. I looked at Togi in disbelief. Then we were both running for the lift. We got on and dropped as fast as we could to the very bottom of the canyon. Then we were running again for the tunnel that led to our large arena for training and also where we were suppose to have the festival. We got in and caught up with Riki and Marei. He turned to me "I warn you it's not going to be pretty," he said.

All I could do is nod. "Both of them?". Riki nodded too. I tightened my lips and ran faster. It was quite a ways to the arena and I got there first and my heart fell. The entrance had collapsed and was blocked by rubble but that wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was that Link's ocarina was just a few feet from the entrance. I picked it up and turned around just as the rest of the group got there. "He's in there," I whispered.

The last thing I saw was Togi running foward and Riki calling on the commie. Then I fainted.


	11. Mining for Lives

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.11

_"I don't know I think the lilac one goes better with your eyes Elsia," said Surora watching Elsia twirl around in the green full length gown with beads sowned on. _

_"I think your right," said Elsia pursing her lips together thinking "Plus I love the pattern on it,"she gave on more twirl then sighed. "It's just, there are so many pretty ones,"._

_"Well we still have a while before we need to head home," said Surora turning back to the sales clerk for help. Over in the corner, sitting in his chair for the past three hours or so Cithe groaned._

_"How long could it possibly take to pick one dress?" he asked in desbelief as the clerk came with another stack of dresses. Surora turned to her son with her hands on her hips and a glare on her face that instantly quieted Cithe's complaining. He sat there for a few minutes with a bored, tortured look on his face. After a few minutes however a small smile came on his face. " I mean," he said staring at space "It's not like I don't like seeing Elsia try on all these beautiful gowns that really compliment her so well," he said in pretend intrest._

_However Elsia didn't hear it and turned quickly her face red with embarresment. "What?" she tried not to shriek. _

_Knowing he had her Cithe kept going. "Oh yeah, I swear, you get prettier and prettier every year, not to mention your lovely singing...". The more Cithe complemented her the redder she got and of course Surora didn't see anything wrong with receiving compliments. She couldn't see the true masterminded plan behind the compliments. Finally just as Cithe had planned Elsia couldn't take it anymore and caved._

_Quickly she got redressed and shoved the lilac dress Surora had suggested first into her arms. "I'll take that one,". With that she stormed out of the store with Cithe grinning widely behind her. She climbed into the wagon and waited. _

_Cithe smirked as he climbed in next to her. "Sorry," he said "But I really didn't have a choice. You and Mom have been going for hours. I just needed to get out of there," he said._

_Elsia turned to him "You didn't have to come you know!" she pointed out "We didn't ask you too,". Cithe shrugged._

_"Let's just say I owe you one," he said as Surora came out of the shop with the dress. She was all excited, they could see it on her face. "The clerk probably threw in a free tiara with the dress just because of who Mom is," he whispered to Elsia as they started home. Sure enough, they had hardly started moving when Surora showed what gift she had been given. _

_"Just look Elsia, the clerk gave me two beautiful combs to go in your hair. There accented with blue just like your dress," exclaimed Surora pulling out the heavy pieces from a wooden box. "Oh I just can't believe that your 15th birthday is in a few days! Such an important step for a young woman,"said Surora happily putting her arm around Elsia "It seems like just yesterday you arrived with Cain and Cithe as a shy little girl and look at you! Three years later and you have become such a beauty," she said as she hugged her closer. "Not too mention my big handsome boy already 16 years of age!" she said patting his arm as he turned away blushing. The rest of the way home was pretty quiet except for Surora's humming. _

_When they got back to the house they found Cain and Leonel working on setting up the area in the back of the house for the party. After helping for a bit they all went inside for dinner. Soon the sun was down and it was time for bed. Elsia got ready and climbed in. For a long time she just lied there thinking about her party and how quickly she had come to fit in here. She thought about her family and how she wished she could see them again. Mostly though she thought about Cithe. She had been doing that alot the past few weeks, just couldn't help but let her thoughts travel to his face with his golden eyes and dark hair which he always tossed in a way that made her heart beat. "Ugh!" she thought "Listen to yourself! He's just your friend and nothing more," she kept thinking "Nothing more, nothing more, nothing-". Her thoughts were interrupted by a tapping on her window. _

_Confused she got up and opened her window. Outside however there was nothing. She was about to close the windowwhen Cithe's face popped into view, scaring her half to death. "Hey," he said grinning._

_"Geez Cithe!" she complained "You almost gave me a heart attack,". _

_"Sorry. I just thought that you might want my present now," he said smiling. Elsia raised her eye brow._

_"What kind of present is it that you come bother me in the middle of the night?"_

_His smile just got bigger. "You'll see. Go get a sweater and follow me," with that he dropped out of sight down the vine on the wall. Elsia debated for a minute then grabbed a sweater and climbed out. Motioning for silence, Cithe lead her along the lakeside road. Soon he took them off the path through the tree groves, picking fruit at random as they went. Elsia decided to join him and began to pick them as well, humming as she went, enjoying the walk throught the unique orchard. Soon they were out of the grove with their arms loaded with fruit. As they walked they came to the road that led up the falls. However, instead of continuing up the falls, they climbed up a small path to a carved out part of the falls that Elsia had never seen before._

_Confused about what they could possibly be doing up here, Elsia sat on a blanket that Cithe put down and turned to him "So what's my present?" she said trying to hide her excitement. _

_Cithe had put the fruit down on the blanket and sat down next to her. Then he turned away for a minute to grab something and when he turned back he was holding a oil lamp in his hand. He looked up at her "This," he whispered and lighted the lamp to illuminate the carve out. Elsia gasped as she looked around. The whole carve out was covered in beautiful paintings of animals and landscapes and even people. In the middle of the wall was a huge masterpeice with Cithe and his parents and right next to him was her own portriat. The paintings looked as if they had been painted right from a dream. Each individual one was unique and it was obvious that whoever did this took his time to make sure each one was perfect._

_"I-I don't know what to say," she said in awe "This is amazing. You did all this by yourself?" He nodded. She smiled. This was amazing. Way over her head. This was definitly the best birthday present she ever got. _

_Cithe smiled warmly towards her. "Do you like it?" he said his eyes filled with excitement. "I've been working on it since we got back here three years ago,"._

_With out knowing what else to do Elsia reached over and gave Cithe a huge hug. For a minute Cithe was surprised and didn't react. Then his smile just got wider and he huged her right back._

_"Happy birthday Elsi," he whispered in her ear._

----xXx----

I was running. Running as fast as I could through a narrow and dark tunnel. Around me rocks were falling and the walls seemed to be closing in on me. In the distance I saw a figure walking away from me towards a light. I yelled out for them to wait but they didn't listen. When I caught up with the figure I was out of breathe and unable to speak or move. Slowly I looked up and received a huge shock as I recognized Link's face turning from me with a small, almost apoligetic smile. "Sorry," was all he said before he took a step foward into the light, arms spread out and his face tilted up towards the heavens. My eyes grew wide and somehow I found my voice. I began to call out to him but it was too late. With one last glimmer of light he was gone.

"No," I whispered in disbelief sinking to my knees as the rocks began to fall faster around me. "No!," I cried louder towards what was now nothing but a rock of wall. "Link!" I screamed at the wall "Link," I whispered to myself, tears running down my face and forming a pool at my knees. I looked up at the ceiling just as a huge boulder fell. At that moment though, I didn't care. As the boulder fell I closed my eyes and waited for the impact.

And opened my eyes to a whole different ceiling. Disoriented I sat up and looked around. All around me were people shouting orders and pointing. Lamps hung from the walls illuminating the huge mountian of rubble that the people were attacking with shovels and picks. I saw Marai and Riki moving a piece about half way up. Togi and Sirah were going over a piece of paper a few feet away from her. "_Whats going on?_" she asked herself, confused, still half asleep. Then she realized that she was holding something in her right hand. Looking down at it she felt her heart fall into her stomach again. In her hand was Link's ocarina. As she looked at it, everything began to come back to her. The call from Link, the terrible scream, running down to the cave and finding it blocked. Then picking up the ocarina and fainting when she had realized that Link was still in there. Looking up from their paper, Sirah instantly got up and walk over to me. I looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"Did you find them?" I was barely able to get out. Her head shook from side to side and my heart dropped even farther into despair.

Sirah saw my face and instantly tried to reasurre me "But it's still early and we're all working as fast as we can to get them out of there," she said quickly trying to look confident. I could see it though. Behind her eyes was fear and when spoke I could hear the strain in her voice. I looked around again. Everyone from the village seemed to be trying to help out so that we could get Link and Hyra out alive. If they were alive to begin with. I shuddered at the thought and was again reminded of my vivid dream. I instantly repelled those kind of thoughts from my mind. I had to get myself together. I needed to help. I started to get up but Sirah pushed me back down. "You just woke up," she said, her voice filled with concerned "You're in no shape to help,".

I shot back instantly. "I'm in no shape?"I said in disbelief "How about Link? Is he in any shape? Sitting in or crushed by the rubble? Just waiting for us to find him? You say I'm in no shape? Well too damn bad cause I'm going to help!" I was practically shouting. By now I had gotten up on my feet and stormed off, leaving Sirah to go rejoin Togi, shaking her head slowly with a tight smile on her face. I walked over to where the villigers had put the tools in a pile and grabbed a shovel. Then I went to Riki who seemed to be telling people what to do and where to go. "Where do you want me?" I asked.

He looked up at me with an arced eyebrow, probably wondering what I was doing on my feet. "You can start with the group over there," he said pointing to a place near the base where there was a small group of people who were slowly moving the larger rocks at the base in order to have the smaller amount on top to fall behind it. It was a slow job but affective. We got pretty far in when I called for everyone to stop. I noticed that not all the debris was falling which meant that if we went any deeper eventually we would just cause another collapse. I pointed this out and we tried to figure out how to stop that from happening. We debated with putting up supports but decide that just doing that would just loosen the rest of the rocks and wouldn't hold all of them. I thought while they debated farther. The biggest problem seemed to be was that the rocks were seperate from eachother so we had to connect them all somehow before we supported them. What was strong enough to hold those rocks together? I looked around for a few minutes until my eyes rested on Togi.

"That's it!" I exclaimed. The rest of my group looked up at me. "I'll be right back, don't do anything until I return," I said as I ran out of the cave. When I was out I headed straight for Togi's lab. Before he started on the cloak, he had been working on a building material to help keep bricks together. It was stronger than concrete and dried fast in a thick layer. I grabbed a bag of the mixture and a pail of water and headed back to the cave. When I got back I instantly began to dump the mixture into the water and flipped my shovel so I could use it as a stirrer. Soon the mixture was thick and I grabbed a huge shovel of the mixture and threw it onto the ceiling, then began to spread it into the cracks between rocks. Soon everyone was following my lead and within minutes the cave was covered with it. The effect was almost immediate. The walls and ceilings dried and I began to put in the support beams to hold the now one piece ceiling together. From then on that was how we went. We would move several feet then seal up the ceiling. Then we came to a much bigger a problem. And I meant big. There was now a huge boulder in our way and as luck would have it it seemed to block the entrance to the major cave where we believed Link and Hyra were if the the cave in had only happened at the entrance. All we had was a tiny space in another tunnel between the ceiling of the entrance and the boulder. I climbed my way to the top tunnel and looked at the gap. It was just big enough that we could put a hand through the gap. I crouched next to it and called down "Hello?".

To all our surprise a weak voice called back. "Malon?". My voice caught in my throat. I knew that voice. I would always know that voice no matter what. Just hearing it again seemed to relax all my muscles. It felt like it had been years since I had heard him and the best part was that this meant that Link was definitly alive.

I called back to him "Don't worry we're going to get you guys out the minute we figure out how to get rid of this huge rock blocking the entrance!"

"That's going to be hard. It's pretty big, not to mention the rubble in front of it. The only way I see would have too be a pretty powerful explosion," he called back.

"Okay well we'll find another way," I said to the group "Did you here me Link? We're going to find another way!" I called. Then I realized that normally chatty Hyra hadn't said anything at all. It wasn't that I was worrying. I was sure that if something had happened to her Link would have said something by now. I just wanted to check though. "Link?" I called

"What?" he called back up, sounding a little closer then before. I heard the sound of a rock rolling down the mountian and figured that Link was climbing up the mountian.

"Where is Hyra?" I asked.

Link's face popped into view and I took a small step back in surprise. "Umm...." he said "I think she's unconcious,".

I blinked a few times "What do you mean think?"I asked confused.

"Well usually after a scream like that she faints but it's hard to tell if she's unconcious or in a coma,"

I looked at him in disbelief. "Where is she now?" I asked a little panicked.

"Relax," she's sleeping in the little cave we keep the weapons in. Don't worry, she's fine," he said giving me a reasurring smile. But I wasn't really paying attention to him. I was thinking that maybe we could blow up the boulder without hurting either of them. If we could get them the capes then they should be fine. The only problem was that we hadn't tested them yet and I wasn't sure what would happen.

However if there was no other way, we would have to right? I mean if there was really no other way. Then we could get them the cloaks and they would be fine and out of there.

If there really was no other way, wouldn't you be willing to do that too?

**Authors Note: Hey guys sorry for being gone for so long. I just started school again so it could get pretty hard for me to continue the story regulary. Again I am sorry for the inconvince and as always thank you for your support and comments. Thanks for reading!**


	12. Dust Storm at Dawn

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.12

_The party was all that Surora promised it would be. There was live music from the local group and dancers. The whole county seemed to have come, including many of the travelers from the caravan she rode with when she was younger. Elsia was spending most of the party just catching up with her friends. Everyone agreed that she looked stunning in the lilac floor length dress. The blue swirl pattern seemed to reflect light everywhere, giving her the look of a goddess. To complete the look Surora had piled Elsia's soft blonde hair on top of her head and tucked the sapphire combs underneath. Many boys from the town were there as well and all of them at some point asked her to dance, in hope of wowing her. However tonight there was only one boy who had her attention but no matter where she looked she couldn't find him anywhere. She was once again craning her neck to search the crowd when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Sighing she turned around to deal with whichever guy it was seeking her attention. She turned around and found herself face to face with the warm golden eyes that could only belong to one person. _

_"Hello, sorry I was so late," he said softly gazing back at her with a new kind of warmth that she had never seen before. She smiled right back._

_"How are you late to a party that is held in your own backyard?" she said laughing. _

_He chuckled. "Mom found a rip in my jacket. So she made me get one of the woman here to sow it up," He rolled his eyes. "Couldn't let anything be wrong with your party,"._

_"Well I think you look very handsome," Elsia said in a teasing voice, even though she meant it. Cithe was decked out in a navy blue suit and his usually unruly long hair had been tamed and slightly styled to one side so that it fell over his face. He looked really great and Elsia felt a blush creeping into her cheeks. _

_Smiling, Cithe held out his hand towards her. "Would you care to dance?" he asked politely. She nodded and took his hand. Just as they twirled onto the dance floor the band slowed down a bit and suddenly the floor was filled with couples. As they danced Elsia couldn't help but notice how the other young men looked at them with envy clearly in their darkened eyes. Their stares made her uncomfortable and she quickly looked away. Cithe seemed to sense them as well and smiled down at her. "Don't worry about them," he whispered "They wouldn't dare start anything here, not at your party. I wouldn't let them," he smiled at her again and gave her an expert twirl out before bringing her back in, a little closer then before. The song ended but they just kept dancing right into the next one and the one after that. Eventually though they had to sit down, slightly out of breathe and red in the face. By then the sky had turned from pink to midnight blue and the stars had add their glow to the decoration. Soon the food had come out, catered from a local resturant. Soon the music died down and the night was filled instead with laughter and the clicking of glasses to the many cheers and speeches about the birthday girl. Elsia for her part, just sat there getting redder and redder with every word. _

_Cain was the last to speak, applauding Leonel's previous speech before going in to his own. The last chorus of here here's were murmured and glasses once again clicked. "Very beautiful Leonel, dear friend. I have very little to add to that but I must say how proud I am of this young lady right here," he said gesturing towards Elsia. " Despite all she has been through in her life, she has pulled through, letting it make her stronger. She has learned the truths of life that not even the elderly learn until late and she has beared them upon her shoulders with grace. She was moved from one life to another and accepted it just as we have accepted her. All I can say is that the day I found her, while it was sad and heartbreaking, it was also one of the best moments in my life when I held her in my arms and she looked at me with such trust. You might ask me that if I had the choice would I give Elsia back to her family and my answer is that while it would break my heart, yes I would," he said with all seriousness. The whole crowd was silent at his words, digesting what he said. He stared solomnly for a few more seconds before breaking into a grin. "But let us not worry about the past and rejoice in the future and how lovely Miss Elsia looks tonight!" he finished raising his glass. "To Elsi!" and the whole room joined him, the tension now broken and laughter once again joined the night's concert. _

_After the meal Cithe rose and again offered his hand. "I know you must be tired, but the night is still young and I would love to have another dance," he said smiling at Elsia who was deep in thought. Not even thinking she grabbed his hand and let him lead her out onto the dance floor and away from her dark thoughts. Once again they twirled like a top on the dance floor, gracefully moving amongst the other couples. They had just started a second dance when a parade of hooves were heard over the music. Instantly the dancing stopped and the music died again. Everyone turned towards the sound confused and slightly scared. Elsia instantly felt her heart catch in her throat as she remebered the last time she had heard hooves galloping towards her at such speeds._

_"Oh good gods not again," she breathed out, eyes wide. "Please not again,". She began to tremble from head to foot as whoever was on the horses came closer and just as she thought her heart was about to explode they came into veiw. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Lady Surora relaxed as she saw the riders. _

_"Good gentlemen," she called out "What brings you here of all nights?". _

_The head rider turned to face her, makeshifting a bow in her direction. "Sorry to bother you my lady, but we come bearing news from the palace. I am afraid it is not good news either," he looked nervous and sad at the same time, wondering perhaps if this was the correct time to present it. _

_"Out with it then," said Lady Surora. "It would take quite alot to break this festivities," she said gesturing around "and we're almost done here anyway so what is it?" she asked again._

_The man breathed out and pulled out a scroll. "Lady Surora," he began in a clear voice. "You and your family have been summoned to the royal palace of Cycania by the king, your brother. He has requested you because of his failing health against unknown disease. He wishes to say good bye to you and to crown your son as the king as he has no sons of his own to crown if your son chooses to accept. He has asked that you come with the royal guard at once," he finished in practically one breathe, then rolled up the scroll. "I am terribly sorry my lady," he said "but if you and your loved ones could prepare yourselves we would like to depart tonight. We will be waiting in the front garden," and with that he turned away. For a long time Lady Surora didn't move. She just stood there in shock with tears going down her face. Eventually the guest started to leave, giving her their sympathies. When the last one had left she finally started moving again and motioned the family into the house to pack. Within a few minutes they were ready and in the wagon. _

_Elsia was shocked, just like them and she and Cithe sat in the back as they began to move. She looked up at Cithe and saw that his golden eyes were far away, probably in the capital thinking about the choice he had to make. _

----xXx----

I was running back up to Togi's workshop again. It seemed that everytime I ran there the distance got longer but I knew it was just my tired mind pulling tricks on my even more tired body. By the time I got up there I was breathing heavy but I didn't dare pause. As quick as I could I gathered what we would need. First, two cloaks from the test grounds then the box of explosives that we could time to blow up at will. Once I had everything I ran back to the cave. The minute I was back in everyone sprang into action. They started grabbing the explosives and putting them in the blockage, filling in the extra spaces with a mixture of clay and powder. While everyone was scurrying like ants I sprinted to the hole where Link was waiting.

"Link?" I called into the hole.

His head popped into view again. "Right here," he said giving me a thin smile.

"Did you move Hyra into the outcove?"

"Check," he said.

I breathed out. "Okay then," I said shaking a little "Here are the cloaks for you two. Make sure that they completely cover you,". I began handing him the cloaks through the wall.

"Thanks Malon," he said giving me a reassuring smile this time. "Don't worry, everything is going to be okay,".

"Right," I said shaking worse with every minute. Here we were, risking his life and he was reassuring me? I felt my throat close up a bit at the thought that this could be the last time I ever got to talk to Link. That I would never get to tell him how much he meant to me. Never get to see him changed back into his golden haired apperance. That...

No! What was I thinking? I couldn't afford negative thoughts right now. I needed to focus, to be optimistic. I needed to tell myself that everything would be all right. I took a couple of deep breaths to steady myself and then began phase two. "Wait," I said to Link as he began to turn away. He turned back towards me, slightly confused. "Riki and Togi don't want to take any chances. They want this to fall straight down, not blast it towards you," I explained as I reached into my pocket. I began to pull out the explosives and hand them to Link. "You need to place these along the rubble where this drawing tells you to," I continued, handing him the piece of paper. "Put them where you can reach and then fill it with this clay. They're already preset to match the other. All you need to do to signal that you're ready is to play a few notes on the ocarina," I handed him his ocarina back as well. I looked up once more at Link and kept my good-bye simple. "See you soon," I said giving him a reassuring smile this time.

Link looked up at me. "See you soon, Malon," he replied then dissapeared from sight. Quickly I turned around and got out of the tunnel. I went down to where everyone was gathered, looking at something. Slowly I picked my way down the sideof the debris mountian until I joined them. Riki was explaining something to do with the way the pile was, well, piled. I was only half listening though, waiting for the signal from Link that said he was ready. I counted the minutes in my head, getting more nervous as the ticked by. Riki stopped talking and everyone started working again. Outside, the sky lightened and the suns rays reached towards us. I looked at the light in shock. We had been working all night long with no break. It was then I realized how hungry and tired I was. Looking around, I realized that everyone was probably hungry and tired. This thought had hardly entered my head when a voice came calling down the tunnel.

"Hello down there!" It called, "Do you children know what time it is?" Soon, coming down the tunnel, was an older women pulling a cart stacked with food. I recognized her at once. She was the "mother" of the canyon. Most of us didn't know her name, and the ones that did wouldn't tell us it. So we all just called her Aunt Creme. I wasn't sure why we called her that, though I was pretty sure it had to do with the amazing creme brulee she made every week. I really wasn't surprised that she had come to check on us but it was about to get pretty dangerous and I didn't want to risk here getting hurt. Fortunatly Togi had the same thought and left to go talk to her. A few minutes later he returned with a smile and a cart stacked high with food.

Well, you could probably what happened to the food after everyone hadn't eaten all night. One second it was there and the next gone under all the grabbing hands. I managed to grab some food to save for later when we got Link out of the cave in. Everyone was eating and laughing, some of the stress relieved in the small break. In fact, if I hadn't been listening for it, we might have missed Link's signal completely. The melody just seem to float above everything else and I guickly shushed everyone to be sure. Riki looked at me and I looked at Togino and nodded. Quickly everyone finished what they were doing and we began to evacuate out of harms way. Once we were sure everyone was out we signaled Link back and got out of the way too.

"Here we go," breathed Togi. He breathed out again, wiped his hands, suddenly thick with sweat, and picked up the remote that had only one button on it. I heard everyone breathe in and hold their breathes. The world seemed to slow down as Togi's finger went towards the button. I watched him push it and sent up one more silent prayer for Link's safe return. For a moment all was quiet. No one breathed or moved.

Then the whole cave before us filled with blinding light and a chain of explosions echoed off the walls. A gust just from the bombs themselves blew us all down with it's force and I found it very hard to breathe for a minute. Then it was over and everything was quiet again. As the dust settled I peered into the cave, straining to see Link. When a few minutes passed and nothing happened, I began to get worried. What if it didn't work? What if the cloak didn't help them at all aand we had just killed the person who was possibly the greatest hero of all times. I rushed forward into the cave and began to call his name over and over again. The dust became so thick I couldn't see but I kept at it. Soon though, my sleepless night caught up with me and I felt myself starting to drift. For what seemed like hours I stumbled through the haze, calling Link's name in what was barely a whisper. I began to lose hope and as I lost hope I began to fill with something different. It was numbness. The numbness began to settle inside me, trying to claim me as it's own. I felt myself sinking with no chance at escape from it. Somewhere along the way I tripped on something and fell. As I fell the numbness left me and agony replaced it. With nothing better to do, I just lied there and cried, my tears forming mud on my dusty skin.

Soon I heard a voice, but the voice didn't register to what was happening. I felt familiar arms sweep me up and press me against their chest. I looked up into the face of whoever had come to find me. For a minute all I could do was stare into his blue eyes because what i was seeing didn't make sense with what I had given up on. Sure enough though, there he was, smiling down at me. I felt my voice catch in my throat and tears well up in my eyes. Sobbing again, I put my arms around him and just let the world stop so that I could enjoy this moment with Link.

**Author's Note: Guys I am so so sorry about how long it took me to publish this chapter. I have been sick, grounded and way past busy the past few weeks. I really have been trying to get to this but you know how it is. So once again so sorry about the wait! And as always thanks for reading!**


	13. Dreams and Blood

After the Battles are Done

Ch.13

_"Elsia," came the voice. "Elsia, where are you?" _

_ Elsia sat up from where she was lying on the ground. "Hello?" she called into the surrounding darkness. "Is anyone there?" _

_ "Help us Elsia. We need your help for revenge,". Now there were more than one voices and they were getting louder and closer, as if they were surrounding her. _

_ She looked around frightened and saw nothing but darkness. "Who are you? What do you want from me?" she cried out, her heart catching in her throat. _

_ "Have you really forgotten us Elsia? That makes us so sad. Maybe THIS will jog your memory!". Suddenly Elsia started to fall, tumbling through the darkness, reaching out but unable to grab anything to keep her from hitting the ground. Below her the floor began to grow brighter and brighter until she thought she would go blind from it's glare. When she hit the light Elsia began to scream, sure that this was the end. She shut her eyes and waited for it to be over when she felt herself laid gently on the floor. _

_ Elsia opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. All around her was grass and trees. The sun was setting and lying next to her was a stack of kindling. Confused Elsia got up and grabbed the stack of kindling. Once she had it all she began to walk, sure that the exit to this forest was somewhere close by. As she walked a strange sense of de ja vu began to creep up her spine but she ignored it. Instead she drank in the beauty of the forest around her. She always did feel more at home in the forest and this forest was especially nice with it's wildflowers and bird songs echoing among the trees. _

_ "I could stay in here for hours," she thought bending over to smell on of the many flowers when she saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her froze. Straitening up, she turned towards a site that made no sense to her at all. In front of her was a tree that was bent and knotted with age. But it wasn't the tree itself that caught her attention. No it was the young girl in the tree that held her where she stood. _

_ The young girl was sitting in the higher branches of the tree, a stack of kindling at the base forgotten. All around her the birds had landed to sing her their sweet songs. The girl seemed to be enjoying herself immensely, paying no attention to Elsia staring up at her from the ground. _

_ "Don't worry. It's okay. She can't see you," came the mocking voices again in Elsia's head. "You always were one to get lost in your own world but it cost you so much in the end don't you think?". Elsia's eyes grew wide as she finally remembered the voices talking to her. Her breathe quicken as she watched the little girl climb down and squint at the sky, finally taking in that she needed to be going. Elsia wanted to cry out to the little girl not to go but she couldn't open her mouth. She tried to reach out, to move, to warn the child that was her not to go on but it was no use. The world around her started spinning as her memories transferred her to a place she knew too well. _

_ When the spinning had stopped Elsia was standing at the edge of the forest and the sun was nothing but a blood red streak in the sky. Elsia turned her head and saw again her younger self staring ahead eyes wide at what was happening, frozen in spot. As if compelled to, Elsia turned her head to witness again the night that will always haunt her dreams. Again she watched as the bandits sneaked out of the woods ahead of her. Again she watched them approach the unexpecting family in the meadow. Again she watched their leader demand from her father what he could not give. And again she watched that terrible man laugh at the sky as his men slaughtered her family. _

_ Then something happened that had never before happened in this nightmare. He turned towards her and it seemed like his dark eyes could see into her soul. _

_ "Well, well little girl," came his soft crooning voice over the meadow. "Is that where you were hiding all that time?" He began to walk towards her and Elsia couldn't move or look away from his gaze. As he walked his form began to melt."Hiding while they paid the price?" He seemed to become younger the closer he got. "If you had been there they might have been spared," he laughed again. _

_ "Me?" she whispered as he reached her. He would have been the perfect age for her now._

_ "You," he repeated. "Because you weren't there I had to kill them. It's all your fault Elsia. It's all your fault they're dead. If you had been a good girl and come back instead of dreaming about adventure and fantasies then they would have been spared. Maybe,". _

_ Elsia struggled to form the words that she had wondered every day since that fateful day. "Why?" she breathed, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks._

_ He cocked a smile that didn't reach his eyes and began to stroll around her frozen form. "Why indeed? Well, you see Miss Elsia, I am a very greedy and a very irratable man. If I want something I need to have it. And if I don't get what I want, well as I said," he paused and stood in front of her again. "I am a very irratable man,"._

_ "Now Miss Elsia, you are probably wondering what in the world could I want so bad that when I didn't recieve it I killed an entire family,". He stepped up to her until he was inches from her. She could feel his breathe on her face and looked up into his eyes. The look in his eyes was a look that Elsia had only seen a few times but it was one that all women knew from the minute they were born. It was a look that she had gotten used to every time she went into town and saw the guys on the street staring at her but never before had she seen it with such hunger behind it._

_ It was the look of lust. "Me?" she whispered again in disbelief._

_ Leaning closer still the man smiled again and whispered back "You,". Then he grabbed her face between his hands and mashed his mouth against hers pulling her into him. Elsia tried to free herself from his grip but found that she was still frozen into place._

_ "This isn't happening," she screamed inside her head. "This can't be happening!" but there was no denying that there wasn't some sort of reality to it. She could feel the breeze against her face, taste his breathe inside her mouth and feel him pressing her into him holding her tight. Elsia tried to scream, anything but there was nothing she could do. She was trapped, trapped in the nightmare built by the crazed maniac who had murdered her family. Trapped, until he was done with her too. Elsia could feel her hope leaving her as the world around them began to fade into nothing, leaving her in an endless moment of fear. _

_ "Elsia!" a voice called, tearing through the spell. The man snapped his eyes open in surprise and pulled himself away from her. Quickly, Elsia pulled in a deep breathe and realized that she could move again. "Elsia!" called the voice again._

_ The man's eyes widened in surprise. "Impossible," he said. He turned back towards Elsia. "What are you doing?" he demanded. Now it was her turn to smile at him._

_ "I'm not doing anything," she said sweetly then drew her fist back and snapped it right into his mouth. She caught him by surprise and sent him reeling onto the ground. "Now that," she said still smirking at him. "That was me,". _

_ "You might be free of my spell," he snarled at her "but you will still be mine,". He got up and lunged for her, a look of madness taking over his face. Elsia closed her eyes, waiting for the impact..._

_ ...And found her self waking up in the wagon, looking up at Cithe's worried face as he held her in his arms. Instantly, all the darkness, all the fear, disappeared as if the man in her dreams had never exsited. She breathed out a sigh of releif and smiled up at Cithe. "Hey you," she said, acting like she was still half asleep. "How long have you been here?". Cithe studied her face for another minute and then breathed out slowly, shaking his head from side to side._

_ "Were you having another nightmare?" he asked softly. "You've been restless for over an hour but no matter what I did you wouldn't wake up,". _

_ Elsia blushed and sheepishly said "Yeah, I guess you could call it a nightmare. Actually," she said pausing and looking up in Cithe's golden eyes. "It was pretty terrible,". Something in Elsia was taking over. She wasn't sure what it was but she couldn't control it in her tired state._

_ Cithe ran a hand through his hair and smiled tiredly down at her. "Well, do you want to talk about it? It might help a bit," He said, still holding her into his arms. Usually, this would bother Elsia but for some reason, it now felt nessasary. _

_ "I guess it couldn't hurt," she said, trying to sound uninterested as she usually was. It didn't sound right though and Cithe seemed to sense it too. Slowly he took his hand and began to trace across her face. For the second time that night Elsia felt likeshe couldn't breathe, but this time it wasn't from fear. She was very glad that it was dark in the wagon sure she was blushing. Since when had Cithe become so handsome? _

_ He stared right into her eyes and she saw a much kinder look there. Complexed and unsure of what she was doing, she began to tell him of her dream. "It started like all the others, with me walking in that forest,"._

_ "Looking for kindling," Cithe said, now running his fingers through her hair. _

_ "Yes, looking for kindling," she comfirmed her voice becoming a little higher. "And I saw myself in the tree with the birds. I followed myself back to..." her voice trailed off as she thought back to her dreams and memories._

_ Cithe finished her sentence for her. "Back to the campground. I know the rest,". He said locking his arms around her tighter. She saw the sadness in his eyes and knew at that moment it would be okay to tell him the rest. At that moment she was sure of how he felt for her and what would happen when she told him. _

_ She took a deep breathe. "There was more this time," she said. Cithe instantly turned his face back towards her, confused. "After the usual was over," she said struggling. "Their leader came towards me and the rest of the world seemed to melt away. And the closer he came to me the younger he got," she said her voice beginning to tremble. "He told me it was all my fault that they were dead. All because I wasn't there," she said the fear from the dream returning to her. That terrible man with the dark eyes leaning closer and closer._

_ Cithe's eyes turn dark. "Elsia," he said "It was not your fault. You can never believe that,"._

_ Elsia took another breathe, steadying herself. "That wasn't the worse part though," She turned away from him. "When he reached me, he told me that I was the one he was looking for and then..." she let her voice trail off. She felt Cithe breathe in and she looked up to see he had closed his eyes as if he was holding something back. _

_ "What happened next?" he asked through gritted teeth. _

_ Elsia looked up at him. "It wasn't anything, really,". She said. "It was just...he just... kissed me," she whispered, looking at her hands. After a few minutes of silence she stole a glance up at Cithe's face. _

_ He looked at her with a confused smile on his face. "That was your nightmare?" He shook his head. "What was so terrible about that part?". Elsia looked up and stared him full force in the eyes. "What is it Elsia? What was so terrible about it?" He said, staring right beck at her._

_ Elsia took a huge breathe in and prepared herself for what was next. "It was terrible," she said as serious as she could "Because he wasn't the one I wanted to be kissing," she said and smiled up at Cithe with a newfound warmth. She watched understanding fill his eyes. He leaned in closer._

_ "You know Elsia," Cithe whispered close "I've been really scared about the whole being "king" thing. But now, now I think that I can handle anything if you're by my side," and with that he drew her closer as she reached for him and her heart began to pound through her chest. The kiss was nothing like the one from the mysterious man in her dream. It was filled with passion and the sweetness of love in the air. It was filled with the promise that no matter what, the one you loved would be there when you need them the most. _

_ But most of all it was filled with the hope that tommorow will always be better._

----xXx----

Life in the canyon pretty much returned back to normal. Well, I say pretty much because there was one small change. Or a big one based on how you looked at it. For me it was a huge change and a much welcomed one. In fact, it had me practically skipping back up the path to the house that Link and I shared.

"I love my life," I said to myself as I got back and saw my favorite blond haired guy sitting on the porch, waiting for me.

He looked up from his book, smiled at me and got up to greet me. It was all I could do to keep from running to him. When I finally reached him he put his arms around me and held me close. "Hey there beauty," he whispered in my ear. He planted a kiss on my cheek before letting me go and I blushed deep red.

Yes, it was official. Link and I were together. And I was completely thrilled about it. It just kept getting better and better each day. It had me singing in the kitchen when I was making supper and humming while I was working. Life just seemed complete.

"How was your day?" I smiled at him, heading past him into the house.

He sighed. "Boring as usual. I sat around the house all day and coughed up dust." As if to empathize that fact he let out a huge cough and cleared his throat. Of course, there was no perfection to life. It was a fact I had learned a long time ago. The seemingly nicest father could try to marry you to a complete scumbag. The good princess could have a dark secret. The one you love could be sick permantly. Ever since the cave in, Link had been weaker. Most would just say that I was being worried about nothing but they hadn't been around to watch him. He was coughing and waking up at night with a fever. Somedays he wouldn't even be able to get out of bed. It was worrying me sick but Link kept saying that everything was alright, it was just a little canyon dust.

"Yeah well, the minute your better you can go right back to training and kicking bad guy butt," I tried to say kiddingly. The truth was I was just because of the symptoms.

The thing was, it had been four months since the cave in and he wasn't showing any signs that he was getting better. If anything, he was getting worse. For now though, I was just watching and trying to be happy and to some extent I was. "What do you want for supper?" I asked over my shoulder. No response. I turned around to face Link. "Link? Did you hear me- Link!". Link had fallen to his knees in the door way almost bent over from the force of his coughs. I ran to him. "Link!" I cried. "Link, Link are you...". I had reached him and saw exactly what Link had been coughing up. I brought my hand up to my face and the terrible truth hit me like a boulder.

Because I had been right about the fact that Link had been getting worse and there was no way to stop it.

I got up and ran for the lift to get help, promising Link I'd be right back to with help. "Please help him," I prayed to the goddesses. I needed to help him, even if it did seem impossible.

Because what Link had been coughing up and was now covering my hand was blood.

**Author's Note: Hey guys sorry that the Malink section was so short. It was just because of how long the ElsiCithe section was so long! And once again I am so sorry about the long wait.**


	14. The Evil Eyes are Watching

After the Battles are Done

Ch.14

_ They arrived at the city the next morning. It seemed that the mood of depression surrounding the family was also hanging around the city. Hardly anyone was on the streets and the few that were had their heads down and walked quickly to where they were going. Usually loud merchants were simply gesturing towards their products and most shops and homes had there curtains drawn. "Black curtains" noted Elsia to Cithe. "It's like the people are already in mourning," _

_Cithe smiled grimly. "Yeah, It's pretty spooky," He gave her hand a squeeze._

_She lips formed a thin line as she gazed at the dismal surroundings. It seemed that the farther into the city they got, the more depressing it became until they reached the towering castle in the very center of the city._

_Elsia and Cithe were both knocked speechless at the building that loomed overhead. If the city had seemed like it was in mourning, then the castle was the absolute source of depression for it all. It was made of smooth, midnight black obsidian that seemed to reflect everything around it, which right now, were just shades of gray. It was an intimidating site and it made Elsia want to turn around and go home. "Maybe the city always looks like this," Elsia thought briefly, sending a shiver down her spine. No one Lady Surora had left. Imagine growing up in this… this fortress. Elsia leaned closer towards Cithe for comfort._

_The wagon soon came to a stop inside of the inner courtyard and a servant came to open the door. Slowly, first Cithe, then Elsia got out from the back. They were joined by Cain and Surora and followed the messenger that had brought them through the front gate, to the interior of the castle. Elsia couldn't help but look back as it closed behind them with a soft thud. She hadn't even realized that she had stopped moving until Cithe tugged gently on her hand._

_His eyes seemed to mirror the wariness and fear of her own. He smiled slightly. "It's okay," he reassured. She smiled back and they continued down the hall, that, thankfully, wasn't nearly as dark as the exterior. It was made of a much warmer sandstone and was adorned with tapestries every few feet. Both Elsia and Cithe found themselves entranced with the different pieces of art that showed Cycania's history. They heard Surora chuckle slightly as she heard them gasp at a scene again but even that small laugh was extremely strained. _

_Elsia looked up at Cithe in concern and once again his eyes seemed to mirror exactly what she felt. Soon, the small party had reached the end of the hallway, which opened up to a huge throne room that was as richly dressed as the hallway if not more. _

"_The King's advisor will be with you shortly" The messenger informed them as he walked out bowing._

_Lady Surora caught him before he could leave. "Surely, you can just take me to my brother now," she said, her eyes pleading. _

_The messenger kept a blank face. "I was told to bring you here to see the advisor. He will be with you shortly and take you up after certain matters are attended to," he said robotically. His eyes softened though, ever so slightly, as he added "I'm very sorry My Lady, but those are the rules," and he did truly seem to mean it. Quickly, he bowed once more then turned on his heels and left._

_Lady Surora threw up her hands. "What matters could be more important than me viewing my own brother?" she exclaimed to no one in particular, then she began crying. Cain put his arms around her and held her as she cried._

_Elsia looked at them with sad eyes. "I wish there was something we could do for your mom," she whispered to Cithe, squeezing his hand again. He squeezed her hand back, but at that moment his attention was drawn away from her, to another doorway._

"_Wha-" started Elsia as she followed his gaze. _

_Standing in the doorway was a beautiful girl. She was tall and slender, with hair the color of the night sky down to her waist. Her golden eyes sparkled with knowledge and she held her head up high with authority. Slowly, gracefully, she crossed the room to where Cithe and Elsia were standing. She turned to Cithe._

"_Hello cousin," she greeted him._

_Cithe nodded in politeness. "Hello Marita," he replied "How have you been?"_

"_Quite well, thank you,"_

_Cithe gestured towards Elsia. "This is Elsia, my parent's ward,"_

_Marita smiled towards Elsi slyly. "And the girl you fancy,"._

_Elsia felt herself blush and she looked down. Next to her she could see that Cithe's face was red as well. _

_Marita's smile grew larger. "It's nice to meet you Elsia. I am Marita, only child of the king," . _

_Elsia looked up in surprise first at Cithe then to Marita. Why would Cithe be offered the thrown if Marita is the king's daughter. She was just about to ask when a cold, familiar voice sounded through the hall, sending a chill down her spine. _

"_Greetings Lady Surora, what a pleasure it is to have you return home at last,"_

_Slowly, Elsia turned around and caught her breathe. Not standing more than ten feet from her was the man from her nightmares. Her parent's murderer._

_He had finally found her._

---xXx---

I peered into the door of Link's room again, craning my neck to see what was going on. But just like the other twelve or so times I couldn't see crap around the people who were currently crowding his bed. It seemed that every single medic in the valley was here, trying to help him, which was more than I could do.

Dejected, I went to sit on the living room couch to wait for someone to talk to me. Already sitting in the room were the twins and Walen. The twins were having a hushed discussion but instantly stopped when I approached, obviously wanting to hear what was going on.

"Nothing," I reported "Far as I can see nothing has changed," . I slumped on the couch. Walen patted my shoulder reassuringly.

"I'm sure everything will be fine," he offered, giving me one of his rare smiles.

Sirah turned around from her position on the floor and put her chin on my knee. "Yeah, don't worry, Link's a fighter,". Her sister nodded in agreement.

I smiled. "Thanks guys,". I sighed and laid my head against the back of the couch. "It's just been stressful you know? With the collapse and now this, I feel like I haven't slept in weeks. There are so many things I need to do and I just don't want to deal with," I sighed again.

"Oh my gods, is everything alright?" came a shrill voice.

I closed my eyes. "Speaking of things I don't want to deal with," I mumbled under my breath. Keeping very still, I tried to ignore Hyra as she walked into the room.

She spoke quickly. "Oh my, when I heard that Link had collapsed I just came rushing right over. I mean, can you believe it? Link coughing up blood from all that dust from the cave in while I am just fine. I tell you I am so lucky I am alive right now, cause gods know I just don't have the same strength Link has to deal with that kind of illness," she took a deep breath and shook her head in thanks.

"An illness you caused," I whispered to no one in particular.

Hyra's polite tone broke through my composure."I'm sorry Malon," she said sweetly."I didn't quite catch that,"

I opened my eyes and looked at her, sitting up. "Oh I was just thinking about the fact that Link got this from the cave in that you caused because you were being a jealous bitch, that's all,". Hyra's eyes narrowed at me and there was dead silence in the room. I smiled sweetly "No offense,".

My stinging words were all it took to break through Hyra's sweet composure. She hissed at me through her teeth and turned strutted out of the house like she ruled the world. I couldn't help but laugh when she tripped over Link's shoes in the doorway. And once I started the twins joined in. Even Walen couldn't surpress a grin as he shook his head from side to side. With one last murderous glance she walked out, slamming the door behind her as Togi entered.

Instantly we were all silent, anticipating the news. Togi looked at each of us slowly, then down at the floor. I felt my heart falling into a dark hole of despair, already prepared for the what was next. "I'm sorry,guys…". I heard all the others take in quick breath. I closed my eyes as if that would help. "… but Link's gonna be just fine!"

My eyes flew open and I glared at Togi with as much anger as I could muster but I couldn't hold it. I cracked and a huge sigh of relief escaped through my lips. " Geez, Togi!" I complained "Did you really have to be so dramatic?" .

Togi ran a hand through his hair and grinned at us. "Sorry, it's just that everyone's been so uptight the past couple of days,"

Kirah looked up and smiled happily at Togi. "It's okay Togi. Whenever we need comic relief we can just call Hyra over and hopes she trips over shoes!"

Reminded of Hyra, we all burst out laughing again while Togi just looked at us in confusion. Walen just looked at us like we were all crazy, but the good kind of crazy.

"Hey!"

We all froze as a familiar voice called from the bedroom.

Link called again. "What do I have to do to get some food? C'mon guys I'm starving!"

"Link!" we all chorused and ran to his room.

The spy looked down at the village from his viewpoint on the high plans above it. It was well defended he noticed but not impossible to attack. No challenge for the well trained soldiers of the Hyrulian army.

"Child's play," he whispered to himself. Sighing, he took a few more notes and packed up. He had enough to report with now. The princess will be pleased. He looked down at the village one last time and smirked. "I hope you have fun while you can Malon, but you will be mine,".

And with that Sethe rode on back to Hyrule.


	15. Relaxing is a Good Thing

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.15

_ Elsia couldn't talk. Her body refused to listen to her pleas to run. She just stood there like a statue, eyes wide and unblinking at the man before her. "Not possible," she thought. He was there, standing before her, his cool green eyes on her, his- "Wait," she breathed out so only she could hear. She blinked and focused on the man in front of her. The voice was so familiar and his face certainly looked like the nightmare man's but it was all off as well. The man before her, for one thing was too old and his green eyes were completely opposite from the nightmare man's dark, soulless ones. His hair was streaked with silver and his face had the look of a caring old man, not one of a killer. _

_ "Welcome," he greeted again. Lady Surora rushed over to him. _

_ "Janic!" she cried giving the old man a hug. "How have you been?"_

_ The old man chuckled. "I've been well my Lady and I hope you have been as well. I wish I could say the same for your brother the king," Janic's eyes instantly filled with sadness. "To watch a life once so lively now wilting before you, it weakens the spirits,"._

_ "Oh Janic," whispered Lady Surora. "Is it truly that bad? Surely the doctors have a cure,"_

_ He shook his head. "The doctors cannot cure what they cannot diagnose. But where are our manners My Lady? Surely you will introduce me to the rest of your party first," he asked gesturing towards everyone else. _

_ Lady Surora bowed her head. "Of course," she said, "As you must know, this is my husband Cain," Cain held out his hand and shook Janic's. "This is my son Cithe," Cithe nodded politely. "And this is my ward Elsia," Elsia curtsied slightly and smiled. "Definitely not the nightmare man" she thought._

_ "A pleasure to make your acquaintances," Janic greeted them "Now Lady Surora, if you would please follow me to the king's chamber's, he wishes to talk to you separately first," _

_ "Of course," said Lady Surora following Janic out of the room. _

_ Marita turned towards the rest of them. "Why don't you all follow me to the dining room. Our evening meal will be served soon and you can all rest after the long journey,". She motioned for them to follow her. She led them to a beautifully designed dining hall. "Please," she said gesturing to the chairs around the table. _

_ Cithe and Elsia sat down with Marita at the table. Elsia looked up at Cain. "Aren't you going to sit down?" she asked._

_ "Actually, I was king of hoping to be able to just go to my quarters. I am really tired from driving all night," Cain replied, yawning loudly. _

_ Marita nodded. "Of course Uncle," she called to one of the servants in the room. "Please escort my uncle to his quarters in the east wing," _

_ "Of course highness," _

_ As Cain and the servant left the room Marita turned towards them. "So Cithe, what is your decision?" she asked coolly, keeping her eyes on him. _

_ Cithe looked down at the table. "I am honestly not sure as of right now cousin. I don't think I wish to be king though," _

_ She smiled slightly. "It is a hard decision to make and one I wish you did not have to make at all, at least not for another 10 years or so. I truly wish that they would wait for my father to die than to jump to conclusions beforehand. He could still make a recovery, he is a fighter you know," but even she sounded doubtful to her own words._

_ Cithe patted her hand reassuringly. "As do I cousin, as do I," he sighed. "Well, what about you? Do you wish to rule the kingdom? You know that would mean you would be forced into a marriage,"_

_ Marita waved her hand dismissively at the notion. "I would have been forced to eventually. Though you might say I do wish I had more time to be choosey. However, I may only take the crown if I marry or choose to marry before my father… passes on," It was Marita's turn to look at the table this time._

_ "Then currently, we set the throne inheritance at an impasse,"_

_ "Yes,"_

_ Elsia looked up from where she had been studying her nails. "What if we tried a sort of courter get together with all the eligible nobles in the area in attendance so you could see which ones catch your eye. Not a ball, exactly, but like a friendly competition or games,". She looked up to find both cousins staring at her. "What?" she said defensively._

_ "That's actually… not a bad idea," said Marita. " A sort of games would help the kingdom's people to lighten up with their pre mourning,"_

_ "And if I competed I would able to find you intellect on the nobles and princes you would never know beforehand," said Cithe. _

_ "A games for my hand it is then!" said Marita excitedly. _

_ "Well now, do I hear an actual plan over here?"_

_ All three jumped as Junic and Lady Surora entered the room. Lady Surora's eyes were red and puffy but she still held herself with pride. Junic looked like he had seen this too many times but there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes when he turned to Marita. "Princess, if you plan to go ahead with these games for your hand, then I will present it to the council as you choosing to marry and the crown will be yours," he said smiling slightly._

_ Marita looked at him in shock. "Truly Junic, you mean that?" _

_ "Yes princess,"_

_ Marita jumped from her seat and threw her arms around Junic's waist._

_ "Thank you Junic!"_

_ He smiled down at her. "You are very welcomed. Now, let us eat," he pronounced. They all took their seats and the waiters began to bring in their food. _

_ A messenger came in around half way through the meal and whispered something into Janic's ear. Whatever the news was, it made the old man beam as if nothing better pleased him. "Really?" he asked the messenger. He nodded. "Then send him in at once!" Janic turned towards his guest. "This is truly a good day," he declared. "I have just received news that my grandson has returned from his mission in another kingdom. He will be joining us shortly," _

_ "Or right now," came a cold voice from the doorway. Elsia felt a shudder run through her. "Calm down" she thought to herself "It's probably just another coincidence," she breathed out slowly and looked up at Junic's grandson as he walked in. She instantly felt her heart stop. This time there was no mistake about it. The cold eyes. The voice. The face. It was all so familiar and oh so terrible. And as Elsia looked at the nightmare man he looked up at her with recognition. _

_ He smiled at her in pure triumph._

_ And that smile was the last thing Elsia remembered seeing as she passed into unconsciousness. _

----xXx----

"Come on Link!" I yelled from the top of the hill. "You've got to get your strength back," I smiled as I watched Link come up the hill behind me. By the time he reached me he was out of breathe. "To think we'd see the day when I could beat you in a race," I taunted shaking my head.

Link gasped for air. "Just – give me - a few - minutes. Out of – shape. If you – weren't – so cute, I would – call you – a bad – name,".

I giggled. "Wow, you really are weak. Can't even come up with a good come back," Happily I skipped to where Link was bent over. " Riki said you needed to train again and who better to help you than the one you love?"

Link looked up at me and sighed. "If you love me then why are you doing this to me?" he groaned.

"Because I know it will help you and because I know you won't order me to stop oh great commander," I giggled.

"So what's next on the schedule for training?"

"Now? Now we go down the hill and go for a swim in the hot springs. That'll help you,"

Link grinned suddenly. "We have to go down the hill now huh?"

I took a step back. "What are you looking at? You're not gonna do what I think you're going to do are you,".

Link's grin got wider. "Gerodimo!" he screamed and tackled me in the waist. Screaming we went rolling down the hill. When we stopped we were both laughing though. Link landed on top of me and smiled at me. "How was that for fast?" he asked.

I laughed louder. "Get off," I complained playfully. "You're squishing me," Link grinned again, kissed the top of my forehead and got off, offering me his hand. I took it and he pulled me into a hug. Not letting go of his hand we walked back towards the lift to the village. We had been training on the top of the canyon, which at this time of the year was blooming with flowers, which was why it was my favorite place. After Link had recovered from his illness, Riki suggested that he start training instantly to regain his strength.

"So the festival starts tomorrow," I said on the way down.

Link smiled "It most certainly does. You're going to love it Malon. There's free pie at the end of it for everyone,"

"Everything there is free for everyone,"

Link laughed again. "So it is, but do you know who's not free tomorrow?"

"Hmmm… Wild guess hear. You and me?" I said.

Link kissed the top of my head, making me blush. "Of course,"

The lift stopped and we got out at our house. "I'll be real quick!" I called over my shoulder to Link. I raced into the house to change into my clothes for swimming. A few weeks ago, Togi had found a huge hot water spring inside of the canyon. It was absolutely beautiful. There was a small water fall and crystals growing everywhere and the water was always just the right temperature. Everyone loved going there at the end of the day and it was amazingly big enough to fit everyone in the canyon.

"All done," I said racing out of the house in my clothes. Everyone had some now. The boy's swimming clothes were comprised of short legging and a thin tunic piece while the girls were of leggings, a short skirt and a shirt that had no sleeves. Since the water was all fresh everyone rinsed of with a bucket before getting into the spring so that the water wouldn't contaminate. I was thinking of how amazing the spring was the whole way to the cavern.

We got there and Link instantly jumped to the nearest bucket. "Race you!" he called, dousing himself.

"Hey no fair!" I called after him, grabbing a bucket myself. Once soaked, I raced down the tunnel after Link, giggling again. I reached the end of the tunnel and jumped. Where we had gotten off was a tunnel that led to a cliff for jumping. It was the best way in. I hit the water and instantly started kicking back up to the surface. I reached it only to receive a splash in the face from the twins.

"Hi Malon," greeted Sirah

"Having fun yet?" greeted Kirah

"Hey guys," I replied as I splashed them both back.

"Watch out below!" came a voice from above. Looking up we all shriek as a spikey haired kid threw himself of the cliff and into the spring, dousing all three of us.

"Togi!" we exclaimed.

"Finally got out of the lab huh?" said Kirah

"Did you remember to rinse off before getting in? I don't want to turn green because you polluted the water," joked Sirah.

"Don't worry," Togi assured her. "You won't turn green, just purple," he laughed and received a splash from both twins. Laughing, the three of them got into a huge splash fight. Watching the them, I was kind of jealous. It had felt like forever since I was that young. Sure, they were just a couple of years younger than me but so much had happened to me lately. I was still thinking of it all when I felt a couple of arms go around me and Link rest his chin on top of my head.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Hmm? Oh nothing really," I replied.

Link turned my face to his. "Then why don't you come play?" he asked softly as pulled me into the water fight. It was such a perfect moment. I never wanted this day to end.

But of course all days do and for some reason, I just never get two good ones in a row.


	16. First Battles All Around

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch. 16

_When Elsia came to she was lying on a big bed staring up into the very concerned face of Cithe._

_ "Hey you," she said drowsily, smiling. "What's going on?"_

_ Cithe looked at her bewildered. "Um… you fainted, and scared me half to death,"_

_ Slow to wake, Elsia replied groggily, turning over. "Did I? I wonder why…" she muttered to herself, thinking. She had arrived at the castle and then there was Marita, and Janic who she had thought was the bad guy. Then there was dinner and someone had arrived… who had that been? Janic's grandson? With… cold eyes. _

_ Elsia gasped and bolted up, startling Cithe. "It's him!" she cried out. "It was him Cithe! Oh my gods, how did he find me?" Elsia instantly felt a chill go down her spine. She turned to Cithe. "You can't leave me alone!" she said starting to cry out of fear._

_ Cithe, surprised by the sudden outburst, instantly started to soothe her. "Hey,calm down," she said gently. "Nothing's going to get you while I'm here. What are you so worked up over anyway?" He smiled at her, reassuringly and Elsia instantly started feeling better. She scooted next to Cithe and gave him a hug, burrowing her face in his shoulder._

_ "I'm sorry," she whispered._

_ Cithe laughed. "For what? It's not like you made yourself faint,"_

_ She sighed contently. "I was scared,"_

_ "I can tell. What were you scared of?"_

_ "That guy who came in during dinner,"_

_ "Janic's grandson?"_

_ "Yes,"_

_ Cithe pulled back and stared at her. "What was so scary about him?" he asked, golden eyes puzzled. _

_ Elsia looked straight up at him. "He is the guy from my dreams. The same guy who killed my parents and kissed me," she said seriously._

_ Instantly Cithe frowned. "What?" he said, the playing tone in his voice gone. "Are you sure Elsia? He is the same man who killed your parents?" _

"_I… I'm not sure," she admitted. "I mean, there is definite resemblance but I could be mistaken," _

_ Cithe grabbed her chin between his fingers and made her stare into his vast golden eyes. "Think Elsi, cause if it is, you could be in danger. Now, does he look like the man in your dream and at your parents murder or not?"_

_ Elsia thought back to her dreams. "Not exactly," she said thinking. "He is definitely from my dreams, but like I said before, he went from being older to being younger… so he could be my parents murderer's son," she concluded._

_ Cithe instantly relaxed. "Well then, it could have been his father. No one has seen him in years. That means that Janic's grandson isn't him," he said happily. "So you have nothing to worry about,"_

_ Elsia shook her head. "Yes I do Cithe," she whispered. "Even if he wasn't my father's murderer, he made it clear in my dream that he was the cause of it,"_

_ Cithe bent his head closer to her's. "You know what I think," he whispered softly. _

_ Elsia felt her cheeks flush with color. "W…What?" she stammered along with her heart._

_ "I think that as long as I'm around. Nothing will be able to touch you," He whispered, smiling at her. He smoothed her hair. "Now get some rest. It's been a long day," He kissed the top of her head and started for the door._

_ Elsia instantly felt a weight of fear settle on her chest. "Wait!," she blurted out. Cithe turned around to look at her. "It's just…" she said blushing. "I can't shake this bad feeling I have. Can't you just… stay?"_

_ Cithe smiled. "Sure,"he said coming back and lying down next to her. She turned and blew out the candle on her bed side and snuggled into Cithe's arms. Content, Elsia started to doze off, trying not to think of the repercussions if they were caught like this. _

"…"

"_Umm… Elsia?"_

"_Yes Cithe?"_

"_This might sound bad but… can I please come under the covers?"_

"_What! Why?"_

"_Cause I'm cold! Don't you love me?"_

"_Yes, you know I do but what if we're caught?"_

_I'll just lock the door,"_

_Elsia blushed. Asking him to stay in her room was already bad. For him to be under the covers… even though nothing would happen… that was pushing their luck. "Fine, just hurry,"_

"_Sweet! Um… give me a minute," Cithe slipped off the bed and into the dark. Elsia heard him shuffle to the door and pull it shut. Then heard him turn the lock and shuffle back to the bed. _

"_Are your shoes off?" she asked._

"_Yes, they are,"_

"_Okay fine, get under here before you freeze,"_

"_Thanks," said Cithe as he slipped under the cover and wrapped his arms around her. _

_Elsia couldn't help but smile. "Thank you for staying,"_

"_No problem. Maybe it will keep the bad guy in your dreams away,"_

_Elsia laughed."This is nice," she said happily, closing her eyes._

_Cithe kissed her cheek. "Glad you're happy. Now go to sleep honey,"_

_She sighed contently, drifting off into oblivion._

-xXx-

When I woke up the next morning, I could sense something was wrong. Scratched that, I knew something was wrong. I woke up coughing with a gray sheet of smoke streaming into the bedroom window. Eyes tearing, I stumbled through the house. "Link!" I coughed, banging on his bedroom door. His room was empty. Coughing even more I pulled on my boots and ran outside, onto the porch.

"Togi!" I called out "What the hell did you…blow…up?" My eyes widened. The color of the bloodred sunrise was being mirrored by the flames that burned all along the canyon wall. The smoke that had been coming into the window had come from Togi's on the level of the canyon below ours, but it wasn't because of Togi. From the porch, I can see Togi's house and it was on fire. "Togi!" I screamed, running for the lift.

A hand grabbed from behind and I fought back. Kicking and punching blindly (not a fighting style I recommend but hey, I just woke up) and was finally able to free myself. I flipped around and found myself face to face with a masked knight holding a sword to my throat. He was wearing a Hyrulian uniform. My breathe caught. I slowly back up and the knight followed me.

"_Where is Link?"_ I thought as I eyed the sword. Lucky me, Link had put hidden knife compartments in my boots. That's right, I have been training to wield knives. If I had remembered to put them back I could be armed. And if this sword miraculously left my throat. How to get it away?

"That's it sweetheart, keep going," said the knight smiling under his helmet. "You're not so dangerous are you?"

I decided to play fake. "Please don't hurt me," I whimpered. "I don't want to fight,"

The knight laughed. "Of course you don't," he crooned. I almost retched.

"I don't even know how to fight. Please, I just want to live," I gulped down a big lungful of air. "Please, you're scaring me with that sword. "I really don't want to fight,".

The knights smile widened. It was working. "Relax, our orders are only to capture and harm if necessary," he pulled his sword away from my throat. "Now keep moving," I waited until he had it sheathed.

Now it was my turn to smile. "Thanks," I smirked and instantly reached for my boots. Guess what? I was just winning it all today because my knives were in my boots. I grabbed both quick and sprang into action before the knight could react, his expression shocked. He barely had time to raise his sword as I lunged at him. Here's the good thing about knives. They let you be a lot more flexible, especially if you're not wearing armor, just for example, like the knight.

He grunted. "You tricked me, you bitch!" he swung with his sword and I crouched down, swiping at his legs.

"Get used to it," I muttered, rolling sideways as he swung vertical. I got to my feet smoothly and threw my knife at his now defenseless back. It hit straight on, but didn't sink all the way so it didn't kill him. Which was what I planned on. As he sunk to his knees in pain I quickly grabbed part of Epona's old reins that were lying around and bound his hands. After making sure he was secure and that his sword was out of reach, I wrenched the knife from his shallow back wound.

I raced for the lift. "See you later," I called over my shoulder sarcastically. "Sweetheart,". From the lift I could see that a lot of the canyon was in trouble, not just Togi's house. Going past it, I could see that there was no helping it now and no one seemed to be fighting up there. I kept going. They were going to need help at the bottom. Again I couldn't help but think "_Where is Link?"_.

I got to the bottom and jumped with still several feet to go. I didn't want any soldiers getting up higher again. I ran quickly through the short corridor that would take me to the main part of the canyon. When I got there it looked like full fledged war. There were Hyrulian soldiers and knights swarming all over the canyon. The sound of clashing metal was echoing everywhere and fires were continuing to consume houses. It was mass chaos. So what did I do? Something that a few months ago I would have never even thought of.

Screaming at the top of my lungs, I charged into the raging battle.

xXx

The next few hours where a blur. I just remember fighting with every ounce of my strength and spirit. After awhile, all the enemies started to melt together. There were a few times where I had a few seconds to look around before taking on someone else. In those brief glimpses I saw that almost everyone in the canyon was out fighting. The twins were shooting whatever they could see. Togi was running around with his special, lightweight curved sword and Walen was fighting with your old fashion Claymore. Even Hyra was out there, swinging her staff around with ease. As much as I can't stand her, I had to admit she was a great fighter. Occasionally, I would also glimpse a shimmer of blonde hair in the crowd, hear his battle cry and look for him. "_Please let him be okay,"_ I'd pray constantly. Despite being outnumbered by trained soldiers, we were winning. Soon I saw the entrance of the canyon. We were pushing them back! With renewed enthusiasm, I put new strength into my fighting, desperate to get this battle over with.

An hour later, it was. Gasping, I watched as the last of the soldiers turned and fled. As they fled, we began to cheer. We had done. We had won. Even though I was relieved to win, there was a part to fear what I would find. Turning around, I trudged back into the canyon, suddenly aware of how drained I felt. I had a buzz in me that was slowly leaving, making me shake. I felt like my legs would buckle at any moment.

A hand grabbed my shoulder and I shrieked, sure it was the soldiers coming back to finish the job. I swung around knife ready and stopped short, my knife an inch from Link's surprised face. Eyeing my knife, Link slowly lowered my hand. "It's okay Malon," he said, looking up to my face. "It's over now,". For a second we just stood there and stared at each other. Then I broke down into tears and slumped against Link's shoulder.

"I-I was so scared," I sobbed.

"I know,"

"I thought I wasn't going to see you again!"

"It's okay now, I've got you," Link comforted me for a few minutes while I buried my face into him. We waited until my sobs turned to hiccups and I was able to breathe regularly.

I took a deep breath. "I think I'm okay now,"

Link smiled. "Good. Shall we see what the damage is?" I nodded and let him lead me to where everyone in the canyon had merged and were talking.

"Why did they come?"

"What did they want,"

"Did you see who was among them? Guards of the Palace. I swear, we lucked out…"

"Do you think they'll come back?"

"Whose hurt?"

It was mass chaos, but Link made himself heard. "Attention!" He yelled. Everyone quieted, there attention turned on him. "Now," he began. "First things first. Is anyone hurt or… worse?"

Leonel, the old sword master stepped forward. "A few broken bones and cuts, but no deaths," he assured us.

Link nodded. "Thank you. Next, who's house's have been destroyed?"

Half of the crowds hands went up. Now let me explain something. While living in the canyon was fun, building houses in it was not. The closest supply of timber was at the top of the canyon and several miles away. Also, every month or so, a new person would arrive or even a whole family. We currently had about a hundred people living in the canyon and about 40 or so houses. So them not having homes was going to be a problem.

Link breathed out and rubbed his temples. This battle had really taken a toll on him, especially after just recovering from his illness. "All right, later we will make a list of whose house's need to be rebuilt and try to come up with some sleeping arrangements,"

Someone piped up in the back of the crowd. "What about prisoners?"

Link looked up, surprised. "Prisoners? We have prisoners?"

Hyra stepped up now and gestured to a low overhang where, sure enough, about twenty or so men were tied and gagged. "We caught the ones who were wounded in battle for questioning," she said.

That reminded me. "I caught a knight before," I said suddenly. "He's up by our house,". Link blinked at me and then turned to Leonel.

"Can you go get him?" he asked. Nodding Leonel ran off towards the lift. "Okay," called Link again to the crowd. "Here's what's happening right now. We will treat the injured and go to the amphitheater to discuss the matter further," he turned to Hyra and Walen. "Bring the prisoners," Nodding, they went off to deal with them.

"What are you going to talk about," I whispered as we headed to the amphitheater.

"What I should of told you along time ago," Link whispered. "The whole reason why all these people have gathered here, the truth about Cycania and Hyrule, and the true meaning to the hero of time," Face grim, Link marched off towards the amphitheater while I stopped dead in my tracks. I had almost forgotten that Link and his friends were here for a reason. I was just here for Link. It had been all the reason I needed.

But now, now things were changing and I was finally going to learn the truth.


	17. Explanation Time Has Come

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.17

_ Elsia peered around the corner. The hall was deserted. Quietly, she signaled to Cithe to go. The two tiptoed down the hall. Elsia sighed. "I feel idiotic," she hissed at Cithe._

_ Cithe glared at her slightly. "If you hadn't insisted on me staying with you through the night we wouldn't have to do this," he hissed back._

_ "How was I supposed to know your room was on the other side of the castle?"_

_ "I-" Cithe began, and then paused. "You have a point," he said, an apologetic smile on his face. _

_ Elsia sighed. "Now we have to sneak you back to your side of the- "she stopped midsentence. Something had just occurred to her. "Wait, why am I sneaking around? I'm on the right side of the castle," _

_ Cithe smiled. "'Because you love me?" he asked hopefully. _

_ Now it was Elsia's turn to glare. "If you keep using that excuse every time you want something, it's going to start being not true," _

_ Cithe's smile widened. "You don't really mean that," he smirked._

_ Elsia kept her glare for as long as she could but she couldn't stay mad at Cithe. "You're right," she mumbled. _

_ "You two, halt! What do you think you're doing?"_

_ Cithe and Elsia froze. Elsia panicked. They had been found! What would they do now? _

_ The guard approached them. "Oh, good morning Master Cithe, Miss Elsia. What are you doing on this side of the castle Master Cithe? Aren't your chambers on the other side of the castle?"_

_ Elsia felt her heart grow heavy. There was no way out of this. What would they do? They had been caught-_

_ "I was just escorting Elsia down to breakfast,"_

_ "…Huh?"went Elsia's brain._

_ "I have been worried about her since last night so I came over first thing to make sure she was okay. I guess I was in such a hurry no one saw me," _

_ The guard nodded politely. "Of course. Very well, allow me to escort you down to breakfast," Cithe smiled at Elsia and motioned for her to go first. Elsia, in the meantime was feeling a bit like an idiot. Now she really saw that there had been no point in sneaking around the castle. _

_ When they reached the dining hall, they found that the other's were already starting breakfast. Marita was at the head of the table, with Cithe's parents seated at her right, deep in discussion. On her left of course, was the advisor Janic and nest to him… was his grandson. It took all of Elsia's strength not to scream and faint. Cithe reached over and squeezed her hand and Elsia calmed herself. Kind of. _

_ Lady Surora looked up as they came in. "Good morning you two," she said, giving them a tired smile. "How are you feeling today Elsia?" she asked as they sat down. _

_ "Better, thank you,"_

_ She looked over to her son. "And you Cithe? Did you get a good night's sleep?"_

_ "Yes Mother," _

_ "Good then," she smiled. "We have some very important news to discuss this morning, don't we Marita dear," she asked, looking over at her niece. _

_ "Yes Aunt Surora," Marita replied, taking over the conversation. "First, though, I'd like to introduce Elsia to Janic's grandson, Gaelit. Elsia felt her heart freeze as she looked over to Gaelit. "A pleasure," she made herself say._

_ Gaelit gave her a cold smile back. "Believe me, my lady, the pleasure is all mine," he replied courteously, nodding his head in a small bow. _

_ Marita went on. "To the next order of business." Everyone focused on her. "As you are aware, in order for me to take the throne that Cithe so graciously declined, I have to get married. Yesterday, Elsia presented the rather brilliant idea of having a sort of tournament for my hand," Everyone nodded. "Cithe here, has agreed to enter the tournament to find out the true side of the competitors so that I make no mistakes in who I pick," Again, everyone nodded. "Gaelit has also agreed to help out in this area," she finished with. No one seemed to take shock to this announcement except for Elsia. "They must have talked about it while I was sleeping," she thought and decided to keep her mouth shut. _

_ Marita began to rise from the table. "Now if you'll excuse us, Advisor Janic and I have important matters to attend to. I hope that everyone enjoys the rest of their morning," and with a smile she left. _

_ Janic dabbed his mouth and rose slowly after her. "Well, it seems like I won't be getting any breaks," he began after her then turned to Gaelit. "Oh, my boy, would you mind giving Master Cithe and Miss Elsia a tour of our castle? This is their first time and Cithe only saw part of it yesterday,"_

_ Gaelit gave his grandfather a smile. "Of course, it would be my pleasure," he turned to Elsia and Cithe. "But of course, you must finish breakfast first, especially you Miss Elsia. You don't want a repeat of yesterday,"_

_ This comment instantly caught Lady Surora's attention. "Yes, Gaelit speaks the truth Elsia. You need to eat all your breakfast before you may go," _

_ Feeling like a little child being scolded Elsia began to eat her breakfast and was done much sooner than she would have wished. Slowly she got up to join Cithe and Gaelit at the doorway. As she joined them, Cithe twined his fingers into hers and smiled at her. Elsia relaxed and let him lead her on._

_ Gaelit started for the main hall. "We'll start in the courtyard. The flowers are just coming into bloom and the rare Maridadi butterflies are migrating back. The stables are over there with only full breeds of course. Now if you'll follow this way…"_

_ Elsia turned to Gaelit, momentarily forgetting her fear. "Wait," Gaelit turned towards her, a questioning look on his cold face. Elsia felt her heart seize again in fear, but continued. "I want to go see the horses, may we?" _

_ Gaelit nodded politely. "Of course Miss Elsia," he replied and led the way to the stables. They were of course, what Elsia had expected a castle's stables to look like. There were plenty of windows to let the sun in and the halls of the stables were made of marble. The doors to the horses stalls were made of obviously expensive wood and the stalls themselves were bigger than the caravan's room that Elsia was so used to riding in. Every horse was perfectly manicured and the whole place actually smelled very pleasant, a scent that didn't usually accompany a stables. It was a horse's heaven. _

_ Cithe smiled at Elsia. "Go and have a look, I know how much you love horses," Elsia beamed back at him and began to walk down the halls, constantly stopping to admire and feed the horses treats that the stable boys were kind enough to give her. _

_ "They are all so beautiful," she whispered, stroking the mane of a young pure white filly. _

_ Gaelit, who was hanging by the door, surprised her with his rude retort. "They're just animals, their uses are quite limited really. I don't see the point at marveling at them,"._

_ Cithe, as usual, came to her rescue. "Well, that's your opinion isn't it Gaelit? If you don't want to be here then go and we will find you later to finish the tour,"_

_ Gaelit moved for the door. "Fine by me then, enjoy your morning with the stinking animals,". Just as he was almost out, Elsia threw the sugarcube in her hand as hard as she could, striking Gaelit in the back of the head with it. She didn't know why she did it but it most certainly got his attention. Gaelit slowly turned around and took a few steps closer to Elsia. "That wasn't very smart you know," he whispered so just she could hear. "I know it's been awhile but I'm sure you remember what I'm capable of," Elsia's heart stopped beating for a second, sure he was about to do something. But Gaelit just took a step back and smiled. "I will see you later than," and with that strode out._

_ Cithe took her hand. "What was that about?" he asked._

_ Elsia turned to him. "Nothing," she lied but in her heart she knew that her darkest fears had just been proven true._

_-_xXx-

Link's face was grim as we made our way to the amphitheatre. We were both quiet, lost in our own worlds of thoughts. Mine were to what had happened. We were just attacked and by some miracle, none of our people were killed in it, though there were at least a dozen dead Hyrulian soldiers. This time, we had gotten lucky. Next time… _next_ time we could lose people. I shook the thought from my head, not wishing to imagine which of our friends wouldn't make it through this apparent secret war. That was another thing. I was really starting to feel stupid. I mean, I loved Link but I didn't even really know why we were here. I knew it had something to do with the myth of Cycania, which apparently was true and with Link's occasional changes in appearance. I glanced over to him. He was back to his dark haired look. It changed randomly, no rhyme or reason to it. Usually when he was under stress, like when we were running from Zelda, one day while he was sick and now. It didn't add up. I looked down to the ground.

Then I saw Link's hand out of the corner of my eye and breathed in quickly. Link turned to me, his weary face confused. Unable to speak, I grabbed his hand and showed him the glowing triforce on it. His eyes widened and he reach for his pocket, pulling out the piece of clothe that he pulled out last time the triforce was glowing. "Damnit," Link swore wrapping the clothe around his hand. Securing it, he motioned for me to keep moving. "Let's go, I'll explain in at the theatre,". We kept going and soon were there. Everyone followed after that. We sat on the edge of the stage and again was made aware of how tired and sore I felt. I watched as everyone filed past and found a seat on the stone floor. Togi and the twins came past and I could see that the twins were supporting him.

"Guys!" I called over. "Bring him over here," They listened and sat Togi down on the edge next to me. He had blood running down his face and his eyes were slightly glazed. Probably a concussion. "Bring me a needle, thread and pain killer. We need to close this cut," I ordered to the twins. Both their faces were extremely serious compared to their usually playful manors. They did as I asked and I gave Togi a dose of the painkiller to numb him. Then I prepped the needle. Just as I was about to start sewing up his head, a pair of elderly hands grabbed mine.

Auntie smiled gently. "Best let me dear, you haven't been properly trained, have you?" She started pulling the thread through the wound. Even though it was gross, I made myself watch. She was right, I wasn't trained and this would be a useful skill one day, I knew it. I'd been planning to sow it like I would my clothes, but was now glad Auntie had stopped me. I might have caused Togi a lot of unnecessary pain that way. As Auntie finished I turned back to the crowd and found that almost everyone was in and treating the injured. "_So this is what after a battle looks like,"_ I thought to myself. Link climbed up to his feet and everyone quieted down.

"I think," started Link slowly "That now is a good time to remind everyone just what is happening,". Everyone murmured in agreement and Link cleared his throat to get their attention back. "So I think it's best if we start with the beginning right?" He motioned towards the back. "Leonel, you tell the story of the Brother War the best. Would you please come up here?"

Leonel came up and sat down on the stage. He motioned for Link to do the same. "I hope your all as comfortable as you can be, because this story is a long one," Making sure that he had everyone's attention Leonel began a trip into the past, using his words to teleport us to a time long ago that had been mostly forgotten.

"Now, there is a legend in Hyrule of it once being twice as big and that the king of this giant kingdom was kind on the surface but evil to the part of the kingdoms that no one ever went. The poorer parts, that were poor for the simple (I am secretly afraid of teeth) reason that the king made them this way. Eventually of course these people banded together and formed a secret organization against their king. They started in one town: Kulimija,"

"The Ancient Capital," someone whispered.

Leonel continued. "From Kulimija, this organization spread the word of revolution and freedom. Of a life filled with prosperity for the future generations if the people fought now. These brave people, who were strong from working in fields all day, found themselves a growing force, made of enough followers to create their own country and so they did. This was the birth of the land of the proud, Cycania," Many small smiles began to form on the faces of the people. "And of course, as the people grew, word arrived to the king of these revolutionaries. The king knew the dangers of an uprising, of how it could throw a kingdom into turmoil and acted against the Cycanians, forcing men and boys of families to join his army. This turned even more families against the king. Eventually though, the king led his men into the Brother War, called so for the fact that is was indeed brother against brother, parent against child, a king against his own people,". Everyone was caught up in this story, even me. I wasn't in the theatre anymore. No, I was in a completely different time, images of violence flashing in my head. Houses burning, people screaming, two armies clashing again and again, soaking the land in the blood of the ones who had once been their comrades. It was horrific to listen to and yet I was compelled to hear it through.

Leonel continued. "Evenrually of course, it became obvious to the newly assembled Cycanian army that they did were outmanned and were surpassed greatly by the Hyrulians when it came to weaponry. So they began to lose hope and it seemed like the evil king would win. However, the gods smiled down on the Cycanians, knowing how unfairly they were being treated and gave them a blessing,"

"This blessing was one in disguise, and it took some time for the soldiers to finds it's worth. For you see, the blessing was of a young boy, sent by the gods to overthrow the evil king. They had gifted the boy with courage, wisdom and power. This boy was the original triforce.

I heard many people gasp including myself. It was well known that the triforce was one of the most coveted powers. That it was often wielded by those with a special gift. But this was the first that I had heard that it had originally been a person.

"Yes the boy was the triforce," Leonel went on "and the gods had made him for the specific reason of ending the war. The boy lived in secret with the Cycanians, learning their troubles. That the king cared not for them and that they were treated poorly in the kingdom. They were second class, according to the king, which was why they lived where he couldn't see them. The Cycanian people knew that even if they overthrew the king, who was to say that the next ruler to take the throne would care about the Cycanians anymore than the last and none of them could take the throne because then the Hyrulian people who were treated well by their king would resent and overthrow them. It would just be an endless back and forth. So the boy could only see one possible solution to the problem.

He went back to the gods that had created him and told them what must be done. He told them that the only way to solve the problems with the two people was to for two different countries. The boy went back to the Cycanians and after revealing who he truly was and promising that he would help them, had them form their own country on the border with Hyrule. The war ended as the Cycanians no longer wished to overthrow Hyrules king and the boy chose a ruler for them. A simple soilder who the boy could see had a kind heart. This man was the first king of Cycania, King Reabu,"

All the Cycanians murmured under their breath. "Praise to King Reabu, may he rest in peace,"

Leonel continued. "Of course, the king of Hyrule was not happy with this as you might have guessed. With the formation of Cycania, he had lost over a third of his kingdom and was angered, not caring if this decision was one of the gods. So he waged war with the Cycanians and fighting resumed. This time the war lasted for much longer as the Cycanians fought hard to protect their new homeland. The child triforce remained in the palace with the king, trying to help with the war, but it went against his nature. The boy had been designed to created peace between the kingdoms. Even if one of them were going against the gods, the boy didn't want them destroyed. So the war went on.

Eventually the king of Hyrule seeked extra help, calling to him a powerful sorcerer to his side. This sorcerer told the king that as long as the Cycanians had the triforce, they would never be beaten. So the king sent his men to kidnap the child and they succeeded. They brought him back to Hyrule and took him before the king. There the sorcerer began a ritual to transfer the boys power to his the king. The boy, knowing that the Cycanians would be doomed if the king obtained his power, commited the ultimate sacrifice. He broke his own soul into three parts, the tree parts of the triforce and used the last of his power, along with some help from the gods, to separate the two kingdoms, placing them were they are today. Mountains border the countries and Termina lies in the middle. The three parts of the boy's soul became separate powers. The piece of power was sealed into the temple of the gods, not knowing the difference of right and wrong and inhabiting whoever claims it. The piece of wisdom inhabited the king, the only piece to do so and with the knowledge of the gods, the king stopped the war and became a just ruler, passing on the piece through the generations. The piece of courage, which still contained the boys conscious, continually floated among the realms, looking for a worthy host. It wasn't seen for many years, that is, until now," announced Leonel nodding in Link's direction. I looked down at Link's bandaged hand. Leonel went back to the story. "The two kingdoms eventually forgot about each other, and where Cycania strived to make good relations with the neighboring kingdoms, Hyrule was hidden by the gods, for every now and then, someone would come and try to take the power for themselves. The triforce helped to bring times of good fortune to the Hyrulians and while the Cycanians didn't know it, the triforce helped them as well. The pieces have been apart ever since, but they are always calling out to each other, trying to reunite themselves and if that were ever to happen, the person with that power would be unstoppable," Leonel finished with.

Everyone was silent for a minute, thinking. Eventually someone spoke up in the back. "I think you might have confused some people Leonel. That story is important history, but does someone want to explain what it has to do with us being here and why the soldiers attacked us?"

To this Link stood up. "That's actually quite simple," he said, starting to unwrap his hand. "It's because the princess is after this," and he held up his glowing hand to demonstrate what he meant.

I only had one thought in my head at that point. We were all in for some serious trouble.

**Author's note: Hey guys! It's that wonderful time of the year again. Summer break! Which means that I get to update weekly again! What good timing too huh? Also, for those of you on story alert, ignore the emails saying I'm reposting past chapters, I'm just fixing some grammar. Except in Ch. 6 & 7. I'm making a small change with Link's new appearance.**

**Note 2: I know that the Elsia/Cithe section is kind of dull, but that's because I want you paying attention to the Link/Malon section. Thanks for sticking with me this long! Keep commenting!**


	18. Mysteries Will Always Arise

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch. 18

_ Elsia sat up, breathing hard. The nightmares were returning, and becoming worse with every passing night. She got up, and walked over to the mirror. In the pale moonlight that dimly lit her room, her reflection was scary. Her pale skin seemed completely devoid of color and she had haunted circles under her eyes. She rubbed her head and looked out the window. The night was calm and the half full moon was high in the sky. "Still a few hours until sunrise," she mumbled to herself and sighed. There was no way she could fall back to sleep now. She grabbed her robe and put her slippers on, quietly stealing from her room to the castle´s garden. _

-xXx-

Everyone stared at Link´s hand. The piece of courage was still glowing, which meant that another piece of the triforce was near.

Link took over now, standing before everyone. "As Leonel said, the piece of courage hasn´t been seen for many years, but the powers of wisdom and power have always been around. The one of wisdom has always remained with the royal family. We all know that Zelda has it right now and the one of power is trapped in the temple. It has escaped a few times though, with the first time being when the demon from legend took control of it and the sages had to trap it in the Temple of Time,"

Everyone nodded. It was a well known story in the canyon, since it had to do with Link´s first adventure.

Link went on. "However, there is the part of the story that is lesser known, which has to do with the escape of the power shard the second time, the time that Zelda and I had to fight the one called Ganondorf who possessed it. For you see, the power piece had become enfused with the soul of the demon who took it and was trapped in the temple. Now unable to fully escape, the demon seeked help from one whose soul was already tainted by evil. A small part of itself was able to leave the temple and search the world for such a host and succeeded,".

-xXx-

_Elsia walked slowly and quietly in the gardens breathing in the fresh night air and clearing her mind of the horrible images with in it. She was feeling better and was about to head back when she heard voices close by. In a moment of panic she hid in the bushes. As the voices got closer, she began to feel kind of stupid. It was probably just the palace guards and here she was hiding from them. She was about to come out when she recognized one of the voices. _

_ "The plan is working perfectly. You will be free soon Master and I will have the girl in my clutches for you,"_

_ Elsia froze and a familiar fear filled her chest. It was Gaelit and he did not sound like he was up to any good. Elsia stayed perfectly still and listened._

_ "You have been taking your sweet time with her," came a raspy voice "Toying with her thoughts and dreams, she fears you because of them,"_

_ "Fear is the ultimate master," Gaelit replied simply._

_ "You have created an unpleasant situation for us by using this "fear"!" the raspy voice said angrily. "By having your father murder her family you brought her closer to the one who will bring us ruin Gaelit. We would not have to deal with the hero´s possible return if you hadn´t grown bored," _

_ Gaelit laughed. "I was a 15 year old child, you can hardly blame me for being bored while waiting," _

_ "I can!" hissed the voice. "She becomes closer and closer to him, you said it yourself that you can sense the bond of love between them. If you wait any longer, you will be unable to touch her,"_

_ "Don´t worry Master," soothed Gaelit. "When the moon is full and I have maximum hold over her, I will make her my slave. If, as you say, it is too late and I cannot capture her mind, then I will simply send her after her family," Gaelit laughed._

_ "You have better not fail me, I have waited too long for you to fail. I will be watching you,". _

_ "Of course. Soon you will be free and the power will be mine,". _

_-_-xXx-

"Yes, a small part of the demon was freed and found exactly what it was looking for. A child born into a clan of thieves and the son of a murderer, it was as if evil itself was bred. From an early age, the demon influenced the child, making him do terrible things to those around him. It was only when the child was older did the demon use him for his plans. He told the child to return to the city of his father´s birth and tell his family there that he had just escaped his father´s clutches. The city the child went to was Kulimija,"

"The family believed the child and took him in. His grandfather, who was the advisor of the royal family, introduced him to all the right people and he gained social power, controlling much of the city by the time he was a young adult. He left soon after, though the stories don't tell why, just that he came to Hyrule and we know the story from there,"

One of the men in the front raised his hand. "That´s very good and all but what does this have to do with the Princess wanting the power of the triforce?"

"Well, if you remember correctly, Ganondorf did get his hands on the piece of power and when he did he combined with the demon," said Link "Then he captured the princess and got his hand on the piece of wisdom. When it became clear to the demon that he was going to be locked up again in the temple with Ganondorf, he switched a part of his soul to the piece of wisdom. That way, when Zelda regained her piece of the triforce, he could influence her,"

Now I spoke up. "Wait a minute," I interjected. "Didn´t all this happen in an alternative time line or something? Which is why most of the people in Hyrule have no idea what happened? So, if you trapped Ganondorf in an alternative timeline, shouldn´t the demon and piece of power be stuck there too? So Zelda can´t possibly get the piece of power or listen to the demon,"

To this Link walked to the back of the cavern and picked up a piece of chalk. "That is an excellent point and what I thought for a while until I was visited by the Sage of Time in my dreams about 3 years ago," he said beginning to draw. He started with a straight line. "See, here is the original timeline, where Ganondorf attacked and I slept for seven years. Then Zelda and I diverted this timeline by trapping Ganondorf in the Temple of Time. Leaving him in this original timeline, we went back seven years and with the sages help, created a second time line," He drew a line another line converging from the first. "So technically, Ganondorf, with his piece of power disappear from history around here, but since Ganondorf never came to Hyrule, the piece of power is still in the temple. In other words, we split the piece of power in two. Or created two I´m not clear on that,". Link took a step back and a look of puzzlement crossed his face. "Umm… anyway it doesn´t really matter. What matters is that it can´t stay like that. So, on the day in the original timeline that we beat Ganondorf, the two timelines will blend back into one so that there is one piece of power stuck in temple with Ganondorf and the demon. Anyway, the piece of wisdom and courage are outside of time like me and Zelda so the wisdom piece that went back in time with Zelda still has the demon in it. So it´s slightly influencing her,"

Link had lost a lot of people, including me. This was really above our heads. So, naturally, I asked what was on everyone´s mind. "What?" I asked in total confusion.

Link let out a sigh. "Long story short, the piece of wisdom that Zelda has a nasty voice whispering to her. Ganondorf will reappear in the temple and the piece of power will become available to Zelda and when that happens the demon will reemerge and wreck havoc. Oh, and try to get the piece of courage. Any questions?``

"What´s this got to do with Cycania?" I asked. Don´t get me wrong.I loved having the Cycanians on our side but I was still confused.

"Oh that´s simple," replied Marei. "See, since the demon was in Cycania, it decided it important to tell Zelda about it. When Zelda found out, part of the spell separating the countries began to break. So Miss Princess has been sending in troops to takeover. We´re here to stop her and the troops. We don´t need any history repeats,"

Link shook his head. "More evidence of how the demon is corrupting her if she can´t here the god´s wisdom anymore,"

"So just to make sure we´re clear," I said slowly. "We have to stop Zelda from getting the pieces of power and invading Cycania or we are all screwed,"

"Yes,"

"The only thing that I want to know is why she wants to take it back," I said

"She´s been corrupted,"

I mashed my lips together in thought. "Somehow, that doesn´t sound right, if the demon is influencing her what does he need with Cycania. He can just take it all if he succeeds,"

"I can tell you why," came a different voice behind us. We turned around and gasped.

-xXx-

_ Elsia was about to leave when the mysterious voice spoke up. "And don´t forget the reason we need the girl. Only she can show us where it is,"_

"_I won´t forget," came Gaelit´s bored tone._

_The voice snapped at him. " I don´t think that you realize just how important she is if you are so willing to send her to the next world!"_

"_I apologize,"_

"_I spent too long getting her into Cycania. It will not be as easy a second time,"_

" _I will remember,"_

_The voice paused. "Very well my boy, you have proven yourself in the past. Do not let me down," _

"_Of course not, Master Demon Ganon," _

"_Bring me the girl and on the night of the full moon, I will give you a new name as my faithful servant," _

_ "Why wait to name me Master? I am already your faithful servant so name me now and give me power to help me," Gaelit´s voice sounded eager, begging even._

_ The voice let out a small laugh. "You seem sure and you know that the consequences for failing me are ten fold once named correct?"_

_ "Yes," _

_ "Very well then. Gaelit, rare son of the Gerudo tribe and son of murdering bandit Halico, your soul was born to evil and to serve me. As the demons of the other world will now witness, I will claim you as my flesh servant from this day on. Do as I wish and let all your malicious deeds be in my name and it shall be yours. Do you accept?"_

_ "As from now to forever, I shall always do as you command Master Demon Ganon, fourth king of the other world and spirit as old as the gods themselves,"_

_ "Then rise a new! For your name will have mine as you will hold my power. I command you to rise a new, Ganondorf!" Suddenly the air around Elsia became cold and the night darkened. She got up and began to run, not wanting to be any closer to this ritual of Hell. She could hardly see and prayed it was the same for those she had just heard. She stopped and tried to make out her surroundings. Slowly she started walking forward, hands out in from of her, until she found the castle wall. "Now what?" she thought to herself. If she kept going around blindly she could run into those two but if she stayed still they might find her. She was still debating when a hand grabbed her shoulder and she let loose a scream._

_ "Elsi!" said Cithe turning her to face him. She found herself staring into his concerned eyes. "Are you okay?"._

_ Elsia tried to speak but couldn´t find her voice. Cithe sighed and picked her up, holding her in his arms and tying his latern to his waist. It reminded her of all those years ago when Cain had found her. They began to make their way back to the castle´s entrance. _

_ "What are you doing all alone in the dark honey? You´re lucky I found you," _

_ Elsia just nodded against his chest. She was deep in thought. Just what did those two want with her? As Cithe carried her back, Elsia knew that she would have to be twice as careful from now on._

_ That was, as careful as she could be when trying to find out what was happening._

-xXx-

We all stood wide eyed at Link. He had changed back to his usual look with his gold hair and blue eyes but his eyes were glowing and his voice was definitely not his own.

"Hello," he said simply. No one spoke. Link´s face became wary. "Ah, I can see that this will take some time so why doesn´t everyone sit down?" No one moved. He sighed. "Very well, as you wish," said Link

I finally found my voice and spoke up. " Link? Is that you?"

He smiled and turned to me. "No my dear, I am the boy from your story. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Triloni. I have the answers you seek but it will take a while. So as I suggested before, why don´t you sit?" This time we did, completely captivated.

The smile on Link´s face widened and Triloni began with his tale. "It all started more than a thousand years ago with the split of my soul…"

**Author´s note: Sorry! I know I said it would take a week but I haven´t had any internet. (In Brasil) So here you are enjoy!**


	19. History From a Person Who Was There

After the Battles are Done

Ch.19

_ Elsia sat curled up in the giant chair, waiting and watching out her window for the rising sun. She held her little bow and quiver from years ago. She glanced at the barricaded door to her room. She clutched the tiny weapon closer. Not that it would do much good. If Gaelit really did have the powers of a demon, there was no way to stop him with these things. She could feel sleep trying to pull her under, putting weights on top of her lids, relaxing all of her muscles until she was floating…floating out and away. Maybe just a few minutes wouldn't be so bad, just a few minutes of forgetfulness of what was after her… _

_ The next thing she knew, the sun was shining into her eyes and someone was banging on her door. Jumping out of her chair, Elisa crossed slowly over to it. "Who's there?" she called._

_ "Elsi, it's me! Let me in!" came Cithe's urgent voice from the other side. _

_ Elsia started to move away the barricade when a thought occurred to her. She backed away from the half blocked door and lifted her bow. "How do I know it's really Cithe?" she asked warily._

_ She heard either Cithe or Gaelit let out a long sigh. He replied in his soft voice "Please, Elsia, just open the door so we can talk. I know you're scared, but you can't keep yourself locked up. Ganondorf won't get you while I'm around,"_

_ Elsia heart gave an extra thump and she drew back the string. "I never said anything about his other name," she said shakily. _

_ A chuckle came from the other side. "You're just too smart for your own good Elsi," came Gaelit's deep voice and the door melted away before her. Startled, she took a step back and stared in horror at the smug face of Gaelit standing in the doorway. Quickly, Elsia drew back the string and shot right for him. Gaelit held up his hand and caught the arrow in between his fingers. He brought it closer and examined it. "Oh Elsia, did you truly think that this child's toy could stop me?" He breathed on it and the arrow turned into a rose. "For you," he said, offering it to her. When she didn't take it he threw to the side. _

_ "A-am I dre-e-eaming?" stuttered Elsia dropping the useless bow. _

_ Gaelit sat down in her chair and motioned for her to sit as well. She stayed standing. "In a way," he said . "I'm here but I'm not. However you have full control of your senses and mind. I can't be hurt but you can, " Elsia took a step back. "Oh, relax, I'm only here to talk," _

_ Elsia stared at him with as much hostility as she could muster. "How do I know I can trust you?"_

_ Gaelit leaned forward. "Oh please Elsi dear, I know you saw me three nights ago, talking to my master," Elsia stiffened "So you know that I can't kill you. Not that I think I would," He sighed and got up. Elsia took another step back as Gaelit began to walk towards her. _

_ Soon he was face to face with her. "I still don't trust you, you work for a demon king," she said turning away from him. _

_ "Aaaah," breathed out Gaelit. "It seems we have a misunderstanding,"_

_ "So you don't work for a demon king?"_

_ "Well yes,"_

_ Elsia backed up some more and focused. "Then we have no misunderstanding," she said and lunged as a sword appeared in her hands. She brought it down and hit Gaelit as he burst into dust, a surprised look on his face. Breathing hard, Elsia dropped the sword and it disappeared. She sank to her knees and closed her eyes. Summoning up the sword from her dream took a lot of energy. Who said you could do whatever you wanted in a dream._

_ "Very impressive!" came a voice from behind. Turning, Elsia's heart sank as she watched Gaelit rematerialize before her. She tried to get up but she didn't have the strength. He strode forward. "To think that you were able to conjure something on your first try. Of course it has some rather bad side effects, doesn't it," he said as he gestured to her collapsed on the floor. He kneeled next to her. "Now that the fight is out of you, will you listen to me? I'm trying to make this easier for the both of us,"_

_ "You can follow your master back to the Otherworld for all I care," gritted Elsia between breathes. Gaelit shook his head. _

_ "Such an attitude. What did I do to you?" asked Gaelit, his cold eyes on her._

_ Elsia found her strength back and stood up abruptly. "What do you mean what did you do? You killed my family!" Gaelit stood up next to her, calmly staring down at her. _

_ "That was my father,"_

_ "With your influence!" she shouted glaring. _

_ "What I influenced my father to do was get you alone," said Gaelit. _

_ "I heard that you did it because you were bored! That hardly has anything to do with getting me alone. You're evil, tainted. Your master said so himself,"_

_ Gaelit sighed and sat on his bed. "Yes, that is true. I was born of evil and tainted by my master. It's easier for me to fall to the dark then take the path of light, but maybe, with you at my side I could choose the right side," His cold eyes were filled with sincerity._

_ "Please, I know your trying to trick me for whatever it is your master needs. I'm not an idiot,"_

_ Gaelit jumped up. "Of course you're not, so please listen. I plan to trick my master," Gaelit waved his hand and suddenly, they were floating above the land. "What my master wants is an ultimate power, what you call the triforce. However, a key part of getting it lies within this temple just outside of the city," he explained pointing down at an old decrepit building. "In order to get into that building, you need the living blood of a Hyrulian. That is why he needs you alive or we could just bottle up someone else's blood and be done with it. I will trap him though, in the temple, but I can only do that with your help,"_

_ "Let me guess, we open the door, he goes in and we shut the door behind him? Wow, that hasn't been done before," Elsia rolled her eyes. _

_ "I am going to place seals on the door," said Gaelit. _

_ Elsia thought it over. "I still don't trust you," she said._

_ Gaelit grabbed her wrist. "Elsia, please," he begged "There is no other way. If my master gets his hands on what is in that temple, the world is doomed," His eyes pleaded with her and Elsia found herself beginning to believe that he was sincere. _

_ She bit her lip. "I don't know Gaelit. I need to think about it," _

_ He beamed at her and let go. "Of course! I will come back for your answer in a few days,". With that he waved his hands and Elsia woke up startled in her chair. _

_ "What a dream," she muttered getting up. "I'm way too stressed over this," Then she saw something that made her freeze. _

_ There on the bed was a single red rose._

-xXx-

The room was dead quiet. Everyone was focused on Triloni (Link?) sitting on the stage talking. Most of what he said we knew but there were things that no one had ever even heard of.

Triloni continued on. "As you know the triforce was broken. That they are constantly calling to each other to come back together. Even now I can hear them. However just having all three pieces isn't enough to put it back together. That would be too easy,"

"Yes of course it is," I muttered.

"So the gods locked a special key ingredient in Cycania, far from Hyrule and made it so only a Hyrulian could open and obtain it,"

"So that's why Zelda wants to get to Cycania so bad!" I exclaimed

"Yes Malon," beamed Triloni at me with Link's face. It was starting to creep me out. "If Zelda gets what is inside that temple, along with the triforce pieces, the world is doomed,"

"So what is it exactly? That's in the temple?" Kirah asked

Triloni shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure myself. I just know it's something important," We all stared. "What? I was broken at the time. I wasn't checking the gods every move,"

"So we just have to keep Zelda away from Cycania and restore the spell keeping Hyrulians out," said Sirah.

"Yes, but as you saw, the more of the triforce pieces one contains, the stronger their powers. Or well, Link's seen it first hand and you've heard in his stories,"

"We need to beat Zelda and the demon within her before the "time collision day"," I stated.

"Correct," said Triloni. "Well, it seems that you no longer need me, so I will be going," He closed his eyes

"Wait," I blurted out. Triloni snapped open his eyes.

"Yes?"

I blushed. "I was just wondering if you were the reason for Link's random changes in appearances,"

Understanding entered Triloni's eyes. "Ah, you have been wondering this for a while yes Malon?"

I nodded. "Yes, it's something that has been bothering me for awhile,"

"Me too," chirped Togi.

"And us," said the twins. A chorus of agreements followed.

Triloni laughed. "Fine, I guess I'll spill the "big" secret as Link calls it. Actually, it's not that elaborate of a secret. The Link that you see every now and then is his original appearance,"

"Then why has he been as he is most of his life?" I asked.

Marei spoke up. "I think I know," she said "It's because he's Cycanian right?"

Triloni chuckled. "Correct. He looks a lot like one. So, in Hyrule…"

"He would have stuck out," I whispered. "It would have given him away as a foreigner and he would have never been accepted,"

"Correct again. So, after I found Link, I influenced my own looks onto him. To keep him safe,"

"Makes sense," Hyra said dismissively. "It's not like it's the most important thing to know about right now Malon," she could not hide the maliciousness in her voice.

I blushed. "I just figured that while Triloni was here it wouldn't hurt to know,"

"Calm down Hyra," muttered Togi. "There's no need to add tension to this kind of situation,"

She flipped her hair. "Fine, whatever then,"

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Triloni. "Well, I guess you can send Link back or wake him up or whatever it is your doing,"

"Goodbye Malon, everyone. I think that this will be the last time you will see me or, at least, my image. It doesn't seem like Link will be needing my disguise anymore,"

"Goodbye Triloni," I said. "Thank you for helping us,"

"Your welcome," He gave us all one last giant smile and closed his eyes, breathing out slowly. His golden appearance slowly turned back to his now normal appearance. For a few seconds everything was quiet. Then Link took in a startled breath and opened his eyes wide blinking several times.

He coughed a few times. "Ugh, well that was just plain down strange,"

I hugged him. "Glad to have you back, even if you are changed," I laughed a bit.

"Yeah good to be back,"

I looked into his gold eyes. "Did you hear all of it?" He smiled down at me.

"Of course I did. It was just like I was stuck in a room in my own head,"

"Interesting,"

Walen cleared his throat. " If you two are done, we have some business to take of,"

Blushing, Link and I jumped apart. "Right, let's get to work," Link said, turning back to the room filled with people.

For the next few hours everyone was busy, with questions on the stories and the battle that had happened earlier today (or was it yesterday? I wasn't sure anymore.) not to mention that a lot of things in the canyon had been destroyed, not just houses. The lifts, carts, even food storages had been hit. It seems like we were going to have to risk going to the nearby villages to get more food but we were sure that Zelda has soldiers nearby.

Link only had one solution for now. "We'll wait until the food supplies absolutely need replenishing. Maybe we'll luck out and the harvest will come early this year,"

"Even if the crops bloom early this year, there's not enough to feed everyone whose come," pointed out one of the villagers. They were right too. We had planted enough in the small fields at the beginning of the spring to feed those that were here, but since then many more have arrived. We would run out of food soon and we all knew it.

Eventually, Link dismissed everyone, saying that it had been a long day and we all needed our rest. So everyone left back to their reassigned sleep assignments. Togi would be sleeping in our house. Link gave a final order that the war council would meet in the late morning and then we headed home.

"You can have my room tonight Togi," I told him when we got to the house.

His face lit with surprise. "I couldn't Malon!" he instantly resisted. "I'll take the couch, I'm the guest," .

I shook my head. "No," I said firmly. Togi opened his mouth to protest. "No," I said more firmly. "I'll be fine, trust me. You've been through a lot today,"

Togi looked like he was about to try to protest again but he could see I had made up my mind. "Fine," he sighed in defeat. "Thank you and good night,". He retired to his room.

"Good night Togi," I called after him. After he had shut the door I sat on the couch close to Link and he instantly pulled me into a hug to cuddle.

We were quiet for a few minutes, letting everything that had happened today sink in. "Why'd you let Togi have your room?" he whispered, listening to him snore.

"So we could have some privacy out here," I whispered back, squirming closer. I rested my head on his chest and sighed.

"What are you thinking about beautiful?" he asked twirling a strand of my hair around his finger.

"Just everything I guess. How different everything is going to be from now on,"

"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe,"

"I know,"

"I love you, you know,"

I looked up into his deep eyes. "I love you too. No matter what happens,"

"Even if things change,"

"Even if," I whispered close, leaning my face up to his.

The kiss between us was long and deep. It was one of those kisses that go down in history. We knew that it could be a while until we got to do this again. Just sit down and enjoy each other's company. This kiss was a promise though. A promise that no matter how long we were apart, we would always have our love.

And that's enough for me to beat anything in this world.

** Author's note: Finally! I'm back with my laptop and constant internet! Sorry for the wait guys! Hope you enjoy! And just so you guys know, if you have any questions at all if you're confused, just leave a review or contact me and I will answer you as soon as I can! As always thank you for reading!**


	20. You Can Always Find an Ally

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch. 20

_ "Elsia wait up, I can't see anything," came his voice from behind her._

_ "Be quiet! What if he hears you," she hissed. _

_ "It's broad daylight outside, I doubt he gets up while the suns up," was his retort. _

_ Elsia turned around and glared at Cithe, who was stumbling behind her. The lantern she held illuminated his face, his expression slightly annoyed. "If you want to go back you can," she said coldly. "I never said that you had to come along,"_

_ Cithe glared right back. "I can't leave you on your own against this Demon whatever and the evil Gaelit," he said, struggling to whisper. "I still don't get why you need to come into the creepy abandoned tunnel,"_

_ She sighed and smiled at Cithe. "There is something in here that those two are after. But they need me to get it. So if I can get to it first, and possibly destroy it, I can stop whatever their plan is,"_

_ Cithe laughed. "Of course, because, you know, just leaving and taking away their only way in wouldn't work," _

_ "It wouldn't. Eventually, they would just get their hands on another Hyrulian and have them do it,"_

_ "Ah, I see,"_

_ "Now come on! Let's go see what it is, it can't be much farther," Elsia started forward again, Cithe right behind her. They went along for a while in silence, focusing on the task ahead. Finally, after what seemed like hours they reached the end of the tunnel. Blocking their path was a giant stone door._

_ Cithe walked up next to her. "Now what?" he asked her, staring at the intricately carved designs on the door. It was made of marble, completely covered in symbols and markings of an ancient tongue. _

_ What had Gaelit said? Something about her blood? "I'm not sure," she looked at the stone. "Can you read any of this?" she asked desperately._

_ "No! These markings are something I have never seen before. Who knows how long this temple has been here," he muttered. _

_ She sighed. "Doesn't really matter," she said. Frowning she took a closer look at the door in front of her. The designs and symbols were actually forming a spiral, and at the center of the spiral was…_

_ An indention for a hand. "Oh," blinking in surprise, Elsia motioned for Cithe to come look. He looked and stared back at her in disbelief._

_ "It can't be that simple," he exclaimed._

_ Elsia shrugged. "Why not? It's not like they ever expected a Hyrulian to even get this far. Maybe the oversimplified it in sheer confidence," She began to move her hand forward. _

_ Cithe's hand shot out and stopped her. "Or it could be a trap," he said seriously, staring straight into her eyes. Elsia shook her hand free of his grasp and turned back to the door, thinking. _

_ "Either way, it's our only chance," she said, determined and before Cithe could stop her again she put her hand into the indention and held her breath. The seconds pass. _

_ Cithe let out a huge sigh of relief. "I guess it is more complicated than that," he said smiling at her, slightly bemused. Elsia let out a small laugh. It was a bit ridiculous. _

_ This time, with a joking air, Elsia thought of another suggestion. "Maybe I have to turn it," Cithe smile got even bigger. As if a girl her size could move this giant thing. Elsia began to turn her hand. To their surprise, the stone budged. In shock, Elsia looked over at Cithe, the shock on her face mirrored in his. She stared at her hand and turned it again, until it would go no further. The stone door followed her hand exactly. Then, with a hiss, the stone door rolled out of their way, showing the entrance into a large chamber _

_ In awe, Elsia and Cithe entered the chamber whose walls were covered in more of the symbols that were on the door. The entire chamber was made of expensive stones such as marble and accented with rare jewels. Gold covered the pillars on the side of the rooms and in the center was an altar made of pure black stone, a huge contrast to the room. Slowly, they made their way to the altar. It was in the shape of the triforce and the top of it was outlined in gold. The altar had been built so that the triangle shape in the middle of it was raise above the shape of the pieces. Elsia climbed the steps up and looked at the raised platform. _

_ She turned to Cithe, who was waiting at the base. "There's nothing here," she said confused. _

_ Cithe came to stand next to her and stared at the platform. He looked over to her. "That's not true," he pointed. "There's a small bowl shape in the center," _

_ Elsia looked again. What Cithe was calling a bowl was barely big enough for a few drops of water or … something. Realization dawned on her and she pulled an arrow from her quiver and before Cithe could react, jabbed the point of it into her finger, letting out a small gasp of pain. She held her finger over the bowl and watched as three tiny drops of blood fell onto the altar. "Only to be unlocked with the blood of a Hyrulian," she whispered. As the last drop fell, Elsia felt a small wind pick up in the chamber around her. It expanded slowly, encasing both of them and the altar, until they were trapped in the middle of a vortex. _

_ Cithe grabbed her hand and drew her to him, staring wide eyed at the swirling winds. "What's happening he yelled as the winds picked up. _

_ "I'm not sure," she yelled back. The winds swept all around them and Elsia felt her feet leave the ground. Clinging tighter to Cithe she shut her eyes, waiting for whatever this was to be over. Cithe wrapped his arms around her tighter and they held on to each other as they were lifted away. She waited for them to collide with the ceiling but the impact never came. They seemed to be trapped in the swirling winds for hours. _

_ Eventually the winds died down and Elsia felt herself being placed gently on the ground. She kept her eyes closed, her face hidden against Cithe's chest. She heard him gasp. "Elsia honey, you're going to want to open your eyes now. I promise, it's okay," he whispered into her ear. Slowly, Elsia opened her eyes and turned herself around, still holding onto Cithe. She found herself in another chamber, much smaller than the one they had just left. It wasn't any less magnificent though," The walls were all smooth as glass. Images danced on the walls, of people, places and events. The whole room was lit with torches that burned with different colors. Reds turned to purples which turned to yellows and blues to green and white. The place had a peaceful feeling and Elsia felt completely calmed by it's magic. But her main focus was on the women sitting in the front of the room, smiling at them. She was extremely beautiful, with pale skin and bright violet eyes, her sweet face framed by her thick, long, white hair. Her whole being let off a pale shimmer, making it seem like she might just be a hallucination._

_ "Hello my children," she said with an otherworldly voice. _

_ "Hello," they both whispered back, still in awe. _

_ She laughed, the sound of it like small bells. "I'm sorry for your unexpected experience. Trust me, it wasn't meant to scare you. It's the only way to my realm," _

_ Elsia breathed out, trying to regain her composure. "It's all right," she said smiling. "Where exactly is here, um…"_

_ "You may call me Nagiva my child. You are in my realm, somewhere between the otherworld of the goddesses and your world of men. Your people call this the realm of dreams,"_

_ Elsia became confused. "You mean were sleeping?" she asked._

_ Nagiva laughed again. "No, you are here body and soul. To leave your bodies defenseless in the world of men would be unwise,"_

_ Cithe, who had been quiet, spoke up. "Will we be able to get back?" he asked_

_ "Of course young Cithe," _

_ He smiled "Alright then," _

_ Elsia turned her attention back to Nagiva. "Who are you exactly?" she asked_

_ "I am the guardian of the treasure you seek, assigned to this post by the three goddesses," was her simple answer. "Here until the one whose meant to take it comes," _

_ "That must have been a long time," whispered Elsia, feeling a little sad for the guardian. _

_ "It is all right. I have an eternity to exist. I can watch the world from here," _

_ "So, when is the person you're waiting for going to get here?" _

_ "She just arrived," _

_ Elsia's eyes widened. "Me?" she asked incredulously. Nagiva nodded. _

_ "You came to take this treasure not because you want it, but to help keep the people you love safe. Only under selfless means can this treasure be taken," _

_ Elsia struggled with this knowledge for awhile. "But," she said slowly, thinking. "If you give this power to me, then the ones I'm trying to keep it from will come and take it instead," _

_ The guardian shook her head. "They can only take it if you give it to them," she explained. "This is not an object that you can hold, it's a power for you to posses. Once I give it to you, only you can give it to someone else. You will become the guardian of it in your world if you take it but it can be a burden, that kind of power. Elsia of Hyrule, do you accept this power?" Her words resonated in the chamber. Elsia let them sink in. Taking it meant that Gaelit could never get it. But… did she really want that kind of responsibility? She looked over at Cithe, who she loved more than anyone else in the world, more than anything. If he was with her than she could do anything. _

_ Elsia looked Nagiva right in the eyes. "I'll take it," she answered. _

-xXx-

I woke up early that morning, still in Link's arms. We had fallen asleep on the couch after talking. I looked out the window and saw the sun climbing up in the sky. I poked Link and he opened one eye lazily.

"Wha?" he mumbled at me.

I smiled at his sleepy face. "We got to go to work. War council remember?"

Link groaned but started to get up, letting go of me. I went to the kitchen and found Togi there, helping himself to breakfast.

He smiled at me. "Morning,"

"Hey good morning, how's your head feeling?"

He absently touched his head where the stitches were sticking out. "A little sore, but I took some pain potion and feel better now,"

"Good cause we have war council," I said as I made breakfast for Link and me. Togi groaned and I laughed. After a small breakfast, all three of us headed down to the council room, a small cave in the canyon room.

Link took his usual place at the head of the table. My place was closer to the end of the table with Togi. It wasn't on purpose, it was just because the battle plans and such were arranged at seat and no one felt like reorganizing their many charts and plans and notes so that I could hold hands with Link under the table. I did get here late after all and I did belong next to Togi seeing as we were working on weapons, defensive items and communication needs.

The room was buzzing with conversation until Link cleared his throat. The effect was instantaneous. All eyes turned to Link. He looked confident, every bit the leader that you heard about. Usually, the meetings were started with a role call and with whatever anyone had to represent.

However, today wasn't a normal meeting day. Link launched right into the plans of how to stop Zelda. "First things first we need an outline of the castle," he said. "I've been there as a child, but I told Zelda how I got in when I was a child. I'm sure it's either blocked or guarded,"

"So we have no such map of the castle and grounds around it?" asked Leonel.

"Correct,"

A thought occurred to me. "Um, excuse me," I spoke up.

All eyes turned to me. "Yes Malon?" asked Link, eying me curiously. This wasn't my area of expertise so I hardly ever spoke here.

I breathed out slowly. "Didn't we capture a knight of Hyrule in yesterday's battle?" I pointed out.

Understanding came to Link's face. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "All the knights have full knowledge of the castle, they have too! If they got lost in the castle during a siege, the royals would be killed before anyone could get there," He smiled at me, sending my heart racing. "Good idea Malon," he credited me, earning me a hmph and a hair toss from Hyra.

Soon the knight from yesterday was in the room, tied to a chair and blindfolded. The minute he was seated, the blindfold was taken off and he blinked.

"Damn, it's a bright and sunny day isn't?" he mumbled at us. Spotting me he grinned and whistled. "Well hello sweetheart! I hope your gonna be the one to interrogate me cause I'll talk as long as you use the right methods I'll surely talk-" He was cut short when Link's fist met his face, splitting open his lip.

"Don't you dare talk to her that way!"

The knight looked up at Link, bemusement on his face. "Well, someone has touchy feelings," He rolled his eyes and looked over at me again. "C'mon, I'm only playing with you. Can't you tell?" His eyes were pleading with me. Behind his smug attitude, this guy was scared.

I stepped forward and put my hand on Link's tensed arm. "I'll take care of this," I said gently.

His eyes were still filled with fury. "But, what about what he said? What if…"

"What if what? He tries something? Ho? He's tied to a chair, surrounded by a bunch of warriors. "What is he going to try?" I asked Link softly, trying to calm him down.

He didn't relax but I could see that he understood what I said was true. "Fine," he grumbled. "But he better keep his comments to himself," Link glowered at him.

I smiled at him and, grabbing a chair, sat in front of the knight. "Hey," I said "We need your help and I want this to be as painless as possible, but my honey here is very pride filled. So you have to behave okay?" I put on my best smile and looked him directly in the eye.

He softened under my gaze. "Look, I appreciate that you're trying to make this better, but do you really think I'll betray the princess? I'm not a knight of Hyrule for nothing. We're trained to stand torture," He shrugged and seal his lips, a look of determination on his face.

I sighed. "Please, listen. I know your trying to protect her but isn't your first duty to Hyrule and it's people?" I asked.

"Of course,"

"Well didn't you hear the story yesterday? If Zelda succeeds then Hyrule, and the rest of the world, is in trouble," I tried reasoning with him.

"You're going to kill Princess Zelda. I'm not helping you,"

Link stepped over now, confused. "Wait, who said we're going to kill Zelda? We're going to stop her or more specifically, the demon influencing her. Once it's gone, everything should return to normal,"

The knight held eyes with Link for a minute, searching him. Link held his gaze. "Do you promise, that at the end of this, the princess will not have been harmed?" The knight asked, a tone in his voice so serious I was taken by surprise.

Link nodded. "We only want to get rid of the demon," The knight closed his eyes, deep in thought. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked around at us.

"I can see that you're all good people, just trying to help the world. So, as long as the princess is not harmed, I will help you with your mission," He spoke loud and clear. He turned to me. "Miss, I'd very much appreciate it if you could untie me and let me go talk to the other soldiers you've captured. I can probably get them to join you too," He paused in thought. "And we wouldn't mind some food and water," He smiled at me and bowed his head.

Link looked down at me and then back at the soldiers. "Fine, but you'll be under constant surveillance. And no weapons unless your being trained or we go to battle," He finally said, motioning for Leonel to untie him. Once free, the knight turned to Link and extended his hand.

"Sir Nael, at your service," He greeted and put his usual smug grin on his face. "," he added.

Link laughed a bit at this. "All right," he said, addressing the council. "Who wants to escort Nael here?" Two men from a small country up North offered, along with Leonel. I realized that whoever went would get out of war council.

I perked up. "Can I go?" I asked Link. He blinked in surprise at me. "Please," I whispered under my breath. "You know I hate war council," He gave me a half smile.

"Fine," he said "but come back quick," I nodded.

I walked over to Nael. "Come on," His smile widened.

"You're coming? Now I can't wait to help. What's my reward?" He asked eagerly.

I shook my head. "Hey Nael, remember Mr. Hero? I'm Mr. Hero's girl," he smirked. "That means no touchy touchy,". He rolled his eyes. Now that he was out of his armor and I had a better look at him, it was obvious that Nael was pretty young for a knight. He could only be a few years older than us and his cocky attitude made him seem a lot younger. He was tall too, at least 4 inches more than Link and just as muscular. He had brown eyes and shortly cropped brown hair. It was definitely his attitude though, that stood out the most.

"For now," he said. "but you know, "Mr. Hero's girl, feelings can change over time. Maybe someday…" He smiled wistfully.

I groaned and glared at him. "Do you want to be tied up again?" I asked as we reached the overhang where we kept the prisoners. Suddenly, I had a feeling it would have been better to stay at the council.

Today was going to be a long day, wasn't it?


	21. We Finally Get Something Done

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch. 21

_Cithe stared at Elsia. "What?" he exclaimed at her answer. _

_Startled, Elisa looked over at Cithe. "I said that I would carry the power," she repeated slowly for him. _

"_But, but it could be dangerous! Gaelit is already after you and if he gets you now and knows you have the power, then he might torture you to get it!" Cithe argued. He turned to Nagiva. "You should give the power to me. Gaelit thinks I'm just a harmless boy. Then he'd have no reason to torture Elsia,"_

_ Elsia gaped at him. "I can't let you do that," she said, trying not to yell. "I've already brought danger to you by having you help me get into the temple. If you took the power and Gaelit found out, I'd never be able to live with the consequences!"_

_ Nagiva cut in before Cithe had a chance to respond. "I'm sorry young Cithe. I can understand your concern for the one you hold so close to your heart, but only on with Hyrulian blood can take the power,"_

_ Elsia could see the wheels turning in Cithe's brain as he tried to find a loop hole but finally he just gave in. "Fine," he murmured. "I guess I'll just have to keep a closer eye on you from now on," he smiled at him but it was stressed. _

_ Elsia put her hand to his face and he leaned into it. "I hope you can understand why I'm doing this," she whispered to him, looking deep into his golden eyes. Behind them she could see all the love he had for her. That no matter what, he would always be hers. She stared right back at him, hoping that he could see those same feelings in her blue eyes. _

_ He leaned closer to her. "Of course I do. That doesn't mean I like it though," he whispered back before giving her a small, sweet kiss. It was short but had just as much passion behind it as any other. _

_ When they broke apart, Cithe was still holding her close to him and looked over at the gaurdian. "If you are serious about giving Elsia this power, then you must be going to give her a lot of protection for it as well right?" _

_ Nagiva nodded. "Of course young Cithe, depending on what kind of protection she requires," she looked over at Elsia. "How is it that the one after you most commonly plagues you?"_

_ "Through my dreams," was Elsia's answer without a moment's hesitation. Nagiva nodded. _

_ "A common approach for one who runs with demons. And he has complete power in these dreams? He can make you feel anything?" _

_ Elsia thought back to how Gaelit had kissed her in one of her previous nightmares. Of how real it felt, that contact. "Yes,"_

_ Nagiva nodded again, obviously lost in thought. After a moment she snapped back and smiled. "Very well," she said. "It is time to begin the process," She stood up and came over to Elsia, holding out her hand to her. "Come with me," Elsia took her hand and got up and Cithe began to follow when Nagiva held up her free hand. "I apologize, but you may not come. I promise you though, this will be quick. If you could just wait here," Cithe looked like he wanted to protest but stopped. Dejected, he looked over at Elsia with obvious worry. _

_ Smiling at him reassuringly, Elsia grabbed his hand and squeezed. "It'll be all right. I'll be back before you know it," He gave her a little smile and went back to sitting on the floor. As Nagiva led her away, she looked over her shoulder one last time before she was taken through a veil to another room, completely dark except for one lone candle in the middle of the room. _

_ Nagiva led her to the candle and sat her on one side of it, placing herself on the other. Then she grabbed her hands, linking the two of them. She stared straight into Elsia's eyes and spoke slowly, softly "Elsia of Hyrule, do you promise that you take this power, not to gain from, but to protect the world and those who live in it?"_

_ "Yes," Elsia breathed out. _

_ "That no matter what, you will not let into the powers of darkness, no matter the cost?"_

_ "Yes,"_

_ "That you will bear responsibility for this power until you are no longer able?" _

_ "Yes,"_

_ Nagiva began to chant quickly in a language that Elsia couldn't recognize. Her grip on her hands tightened and as the chanting became louder the candle's flame burned brighter, larger, until it was all that Elsia could focus on. Nothing else was there, just the flame. The chanting was still happening, but it sounded farther away, distant and Elsia began to see images flashing past her eyes in the light. It filled her sight and Elsia watched, hypnotized, at the images. They were of the past, as far back as the gods creation, and Elsia learned the history of everything. Then it switched to her life. Everything important to her came crystal clear. She saw everything in a new way, filling her heart and soul with a thousand new feelings. Then the future was shown to her, people gathering, a battle waiting to happen, a tall figure on hors back leading the way to a giant castle. She watched them charge and the scenes changed again. Children running through fields, laughing and chasing each other. A time of complete peace, similar to the images dancing on the walls in the first room. Finally, she was shown the land of dreams. Shown it's secrets and how to use it to defend herself. The flame grew larger with the last of the images, and after the last one, it burst, throwing her into darkness. She was disconnected, floating, through the darkness. In front of her a small ball of light bobbed up and down, waiting. Elsia knew what to do._

_ "Join with me, I'll keep you safe," she whispered softly, opening her arms as if to embrace it. The little light flew towards her, and seemed to slip into her chest, warming her entire being as she closed her eyes in acceptance. She took in a deep breath and felt herself falling. Faster and faster until at last she opened her eyes, gasping and sitting up suddenly, making the room spin. She felt a hand steady her as she began to sag to the side. _

_ "Easy there," soothed Cithe staring into her eyes. "You had me worried there," He brought her into his arms and rested his head on top of hers. "Are you all right?"._

_ Elsia felt exhausted and everything that had just happened was still rushing through her head. "I'm really tired," she murmured. She looked over to her right and saw Nagiva sitting back in her usual spot. They were back in the first room and the guardian's eyes were closed tight. _

_ "She's been that way since you were brought in here, "Cithe whispered. "She came back in here with you in her arms. Lied you down next to me and went over there. Hasn't said anything since then," _

_ "I wonder if she's okay," Elsia asked Cithe. No sooner had she asked then Nagiva's eyes snapped open. She blinked a few times and focused on Elsia. _

_ "It's time for you to go," she said in a quiet voice. "My time here is fading,". Even as she spoke she was fading. She took in a deep breath. "Thank you," she said smiling at Elsia. _

_ "You're welcome," Elsia smiled back. With that the winds picked up again and they were flying again. This time, Elsia didn't close her eyes. She was strangely calm. The wind was strong around them and soon they were sailing down across the sky and landed in front of the old temple. Elsia watched as the old temple sunk into the ground, it's purpose fulfilled. Cithe looked at Elsia, still in his arms. _

_ "Now what? Did you get magical powers?" he asked, looking at her quizzically. She laughed. _

_ "It's not like that," she said. "I'm not any different, I'm just carrying the power," _

_ "What are you going to do now?" _

_ Elsia took in a deep breath. "Now I prepare for the worst nightmare of my life,"_

_ Cithe got a worried look on his face. "Do you have a plan?" _

_ "Yes and if it goes right, then we won't have to worry about Gaelit or his master," _

_ Cithe smiled sadly. "I wish I could help," He hugged her closer._

_ "Actually, I would feel better if you stayed near me while I was sleeping," Elsia said realizing something. "Gaelit can't get past you to me. When he tries your love for me blocks him out," she said. _

_ Cithe smiled. "Of course I will. Can you walk?" _

_ Elsia blinked a few times. "What?" she asked. She had been thinking about what she had saw, there was something there… in the future she had seen. _

_ "Can you walk?" _

_ "Oh yeah," she said, as he set her on her feet. He took her hand and they started back to the city. As they went she looked back at where the temple had been. "Good bye Nagiva," she whispered. _

_ As she turned away, she instinctively put her hand on top of her stomach, thinking about what she had seen in the future. It was not going to be an easy one. _

-xXx-

We could not get to the prisoners hold fast enough. When we finally got there, my nerves had just about reached their breaking point. I was ready to kick Nael into that cell and keep him there. I probably would have to if we hadn't needed his help. Luckily, Nael instantly started talking to the other soldiers in the prison, telling them the situation. After a few minutes most of them stood up and walked over to the door to be let out, agreeing to help us. Of course, there was still one or two who refused to go.

Nael came over to me, followed by seven other men. "These ones are willingly to help, but on the same conditions as me. That the princess can't be hurt or we switch sides. Instantly," The men behind him were all older men, most of them sporting a few battle scars. They all shared a similar look in their eyes. A look of tiredness, that they had seen too much in this life. Nael was the only one that seemed untouched by this look, this feeling. I couldn't help but tell the difference between him and them.

Once they had removed all their armor and weapons. We went back to the council, just in time for Togi's presentation on the special weapons he had been working on. He was just starting to talk about the cloaks we had made when Link noticed we were back. " Wait," he said to Togi, holding up his hand.

"We're back," I greeted, walking over to Link. "There are still a few who refuse to help," I whispered in his ear. "They don't believe that you're going to leave the princess untouched." His face grew grim. "What do you want us to do with the remaining prisoners?" I asked nervously. It's not like we had prisoners every day. I wasn't sure what the protocol was here.

Link was silent for a moment before turning to me. "I'll deal with them later, for now just give them some bread and water and make sure they're under constant watch," he finally said.

I nodded and went to relay the information to one of the men who went with me. He left without a word and the council resumed its planning. Togi finished with his section and then Leonel gave inventory on how many of each kind of weapon we had. After that Hyra talked about which people needed more training and which were good with what. Finally, it was time to plan the actual attack again. Nael came forward then and he was given a seat at the middle of the table.

Link motioned towards him. "Can you draw at all?" he asked as Riki brought out a giant piece of paper, thick and a small writing quill.

Nael nodded. "My mother was an artist and taught me how to draw and paint," he said, picking up the quill. His hand began to slowly draw the shape of the castle if you looked at it from the sky. "Now the castle is made of five levels above ground and two below. There is a small tunnel here," he circled part the map outside the castle's outline. "Below a great oak that leads directly into the castle. It lets out in the wine cellar. From there, there is a set of stairs that lead to the first floor in the back of the castle. The stairs let out near the kitchen and it will be bustling most of the time, with people constantly going in and out. If you can get past the servants then the second stair case is at the end of the hall in a small alcove," His hand was flying over the page now. The castle was huge, an impossible feat. As he went on about how to get to the princess, a thought occurred to me.

"Wait," I said suddenly, making Nael pause. "How are we going to get into the town in the first place? It's surrounded by a giant wall and we can't sneak everyone in with weapons, the guards will notice. Someone tells the princess and she goes and locks herself in the temple. Game over," Nael paused, his brow furrowing.

"Damn it, if what you guys are telling me is true, then Malon's right. The princess would just lock herself inside until the day the timelines merge," He bit his lip, deep in thought. "The guards would definitely notice that many people going in through the gate,".

Link sighed, putting his face in his hands and I instinctively put a hand on his shoulder in comfort. "Now what then?" he asked. "I can see what you two are getting at and from my time at Hyrule I have to agree. Getting in will be next to impossible without alerting the princess,"

Everyone was quiet for a long time, thinking. Every now and then someone would start to say something until someone else saw the flaw in the plan. Eventually though, Marai hit the right one.

"Hold on," she started, a gleam of excitement in her eyes. " If the castle goes under attack the princess goes to the temple right? Especially if it's Link coming right?"

"Yes," Nael answered, frowning. "So?"

Marai was really getting excited now. "What if we use it to our advantage? If we somehow get to the temple before her? Then we could catch her and not even have to deal with the castle!"

Link was already shaking his head. "No way it would work, how would we get everyone in the city in the first place?"

But the idea was already catching and everyone was beginning to think about it, whispereing excitedly. The twins and Hyra were the next to contribute and they really got the wheels moving in our heads.

Sirah went first. "We don't have to have everyone if it's just the princess," she said excitedly.

"Yea!" piped up Kirah. " We just need, like ten people," she said.

"The rest can attack the outside after those ten are in, then the princess will go to the temple, not even expecting you guys," added Hyra coolly.

"Ten people going into the city is still a lot if it's for no apparent reason," countered Nael.

Inspiration struck me. "But if they were, say, a circus, then it wouldn't be, would it?" I said thinking it through.

Link and Nael both looked at me in wonder. "A circus," said Link incredulously. "Like the traveling kind?"

Hyra snapped her fingers, her eyes lighting up. "Yes! That would totally work. Small performing bands aren't at all uncommon nowadays, with so little war," she said. The twins nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

Nael was even smiling now, thinking it over, already beginning to sketch some of it out. "It could work," he began, then his face clouded. "Wait, no what about when the guards come to inspect the wagon? I assume you're going to use more than just knives on this operation,"

But Link and I already had the same idea. "I have a key," he said excitedly. "To a secret room in the Happy Mask Shop. We can hide the other weapons there until it's time to get to work,"

Soon we were all in agreement. We went over details. What to bring, what kind of acts to do, who would do what. There were still obstacles that needed seeing to, but Link and Nael were certain that they could figure it out. Finally, as the sun was setting, Link closed the meeting, telling some people to meet him back here early tomorrow, that they first had some business to take care of.

"Well, that was tiring," I complained after the meeting. "At least we have a somewhat solid plan though," Nodding next to me, Link grabbed my hand. I leaned closer to him and we walked on home.

"So what are we doing tomorrow?" I asked, looking up at the full moon above.

Link sighed. "I'm going to go visit some people who owe me. I'd hope to never have to use those favors but this is for the world," he looked away.

"So we're going to go to other countries?" I asked, confused. There was no way he could do that in a day.

"Oh no. I've already got everyone from everywhere else. No, I only have one country left,"

A feeling of fear suddenly formed in the pit of my stomach. "You don't mean…"

Link nodded grimly. "Yes, we're going to Hyrule tomorrow," he said.

I sighed. Just when I thought things were getting easier. Now we had to go sneak into Hyrule. Great.

I just never get a break do I?"


	22. Isn't Magic Just Wonderful?

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch. 22

_ Elsia sat on her bed, deep in thought. She was still planning and Cithe was late. She needed him if this plan was to succeed. They only had one chance to do this before Gaelit figured out what had happened. How though? She was still thinking when Cithe rushed into the room, slamming the door behind him. She jumped up. _

_ "Did you do it?" she asked urgently._

_ Still out of breath, Cithe nodded his head. She smiled at him. Everything was set. _

_ "Let's get started then," she said, gesturing to the floor. On it was an intricate circle made of symbols. It was a protective spell to help them in the world of dreams. They had set it up just a few hours ago. Cithe took his place in the circle, sitting with his back to middle. Elsia took a stepped in and murmured some words of the ancient language. The symbols began to shine and, satisfied, she took her seat in the circle, pressing her back to Cithe's. _

_ "Ready," she asked Cithe. _

_ "Ready," he replied with determination. The effects of the circle started and Elsia felt herself falling into sleep. For a few moments there was nothing but darkness and then she was sitting in the palace gardens, her and Cithe still in the same position. She breathed out. _

_ "Remember, we can't look at each other or Gaelit will know everything. I'm going now, keep your eyes closed for at least one more minute, okay?" _

_ "Okay," _

_ With that Elsia stood up, and without looking back she ran off, through the gardens to the city beyond. "Gaelit!" she called into the night, her voice booming. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then a dark shape appeared ahead of her, walking slowly. Gaelit was smirking at her._

_ "Hello there Elsia dear," He said coldly. "Where have you been? We only have a few more days you know," He glanced up at the almost full moon. "If we don't act quickly we won't be able to trick my master," _

_ Elsia crossed her arms. "Here's the thing Gaelit, I don't believe you," she said casually. _

_ His eyes flared. "I was afraid of that. Too bad too, I was hoping I wouldn't need to do this," Snarling, he charged at her. A sword appeared in his hand and he brought it down in a huge arc. Elsia didn't move. _

_ "Nice try," she said as it bounced harmlessly of her invisible shield. "But you won't be able to touch me anymore," Unable to help herself she smirked at him and, childishly, stuck out her tongue at him. _

_ "What it the meaning of this?" he roared. _

_ She smiled even bigger. "I decided to take action against you. The power your master seeks is now mine and you will never get it," she said, turning her back to him and walking away. _

_ He appeared in front of her, blocking her path. "So you say. What's keeping me from taking it?" he asked, trying to contain his anger. _

_ She shrugged. "Just this. If you try to take it by force, the power will destroy itself. Then nobody wins," _

_ "I guess you think you've won don't you?"_

_ She sighed. "You are persistent Gaelit, but I don't think that I've won. I know I have," _

_ "For now maybe," he gave her. "But I will take over this country and you will give me that power someday," _

_ She rolled her eyes. So far, the plan was working. "And just how," she said loudly at him. "Do you plan to do that now? Admit it, you've lost,"_

_ He took a step closer. "So you think that this is it, do you? That I'll just stop harassing you from now on? Not even close. You're still the only one who knows what I'm up to," he laughed. "I still have a plan you know," _

_ "Really? I don't believe you. I think that you're just trying to scare me," She tossed her hair over her shoulder. "It's not going to work," _

_ "Oh Elsia dear, how wrong you are. Allow me to enlighten you, since no one ever believes you anyway," He said softly, not bothering to hide the evil behind those words. "Soon, everything will be mine. And half of it is thanks to you," She felt a small chill roll down her spine but she shook it off. _

_ "Go on," she said, trying to sound bored. _

_ "You have probably already figured out that it was I who has been poisoning the king with fake medicines. Wasn't hard, I just took over the feeble mind of the physician," _

_ "So you made the king sick. Good for you, that's never been done before. And even if the king dies, Marita will just take over," she shot back. _

_ "Yes, and this is where I have you to thank. Because you came up with the ideas of the games. I simply have to win Marita's heart by making everyone else look bad. She can marry who ever she wants, right?" _

_ Elsia smacked her forehead. "Of course," she said. "But what if I have Cithe stop you?" she asked innocently. _

_ His eyes narrowed at her. "If Cithe tries, then I will simply let an "accident" happen to him. Still__want to threaten me?" _

_ Elsia looked at the ground. "And let me guess. You were going to use him to get me to give you the power,"_

_ He smiled. "Sharp as ever, Elsia dear," _

_ She pursued her lips and made herself look into his eyes. "What if everyone found out about your plans somehow. I mean you did just tell me everything," _

_ His voice boomed with laughter. "Who would believe you? A girl constantly plagued with nightmares? They would probably just laugh at you," _

_ She sighed. "You're right, they would," then her face split into a giant grin. "If they weren't all here in the first place. Cithe!" she called out, watching with satisfaction as Gaelit froze in spot, a look of horror on his face as he became aware of those around him. Slowly, as if mist was being lifted, people began to appear around them. Gaelit took a step away from her, trying to escape but Elsia just waved her hand and a wall appeared behind him. "Now who's in control?" she asked. _

_ "What have you done?" he hissed at her. "How did you do this? You're just a girl!"_

_ She shrugged. "And you were just a boy until you borrowed some power from demons. So I evened the odds,"_

_ "Do you really think that your little goddess given powers can stop me?" _

_ "Actually, I do, if your master wants it so bad," she said, walking over to a very shocked Marita. "What do you think? Think you could ever love this scumbag?" Marita just shook her head. "Didn't think so," _

_ "You will pay for this!" hissed Gaelit. "You will pay!"_

_ "Threaten me all you like but you won't be getting away this time! I've already sent people back to arrest you while you're still here," _

_ Gaelit shook his head. "What's to stop me from leaving?" he asked. _

_ Elsia snapped her fingers, a small curved bow appearing in her hand. "I'm going to bind you here Ganondorf," she said threateningly, drawing back the string _

_ "You used my new name. I guess this means I can't leave until I defeat you right?" he said through his teeth, bringing his own sword into fighting position. _

_ "You guess right," she said simply. She let the arrow fly just as Ganondorf charged. _

_ The battle was on._

-xXx-

I yawned as Link guided me from the house in the early light. He was laughing a little but I didn't care. What I did care about was getting some more sleep. I could hear Togi yawning as well, still rubbing the sand from his eyes.

"I thought you were used to getting up early," Link teased me.

"Shut it," I mumbled. These past few months in the canyon had ruined my usual sleep patterns. I had gotten used to getting up later. Going to bed later. Now I was paying for it.

"Can we sleep in the back of the wagon?" asked the sleepy Togi behind us, his tousled hair making him look a lot younger than he was.

Link's smiled widened. "Sure Togi, just be awake when we reach Hyrule," he said.

After we reached the bottom of the canyon we found the usual group waiting for us. They were all dressed for travel and armed. We took the wagon off the lift and loaded it up with provisions and, putting them in a compartment under the wagon, more weapons. Hyra, the twins, Riki and Togi climbed into the back and Togi promptly fell asleep where he was. Yawning, I climbed into the passenger's seat and leaned back, closing my eyes. I felt Link climb in next to me and the lurch of the wagon as we got moving. Then I sunk back into a deep slumber.

True to his word Link let those sleeping, sleep until we were about 20 minutes away from the Hyrule border. This time when I woke up, I was fully alert.

"Were almost there?" I asked, beginning to tense. Link nodded and soon led the wagon off of the road, into a small thicket of trees and bushes. After making sure no one could see the wagon from the road, we grabbed some of the provisions and most of the weapons and set off.

"So how are we going to get in?" whispered Riki behind Link. "We're not exactly inconspicuous, walking around in the middle of the day armed to the teeth,"

Link smiled and pointed towards a low rise close to our right and away from the road. "We're going to go through the Gerudo desert with the help of an old friend of mine,"

We all stared at Link like he was crazy. "The desert?" I hissed at him. "Unless you're friends with a Gerudo, we are all going to die!"

Link smiled at me. "Just wait and see,". With that he set off for the rise, the rest of us following. As close as the rise seemed to be it still took us more than an hour to get over it and to the deserts edge beyond it. And, of course, what do you know? There was a bronzed skinned girl waiting for us.

"I don't believe it," I muttered. Somehow Link knew a Gerudo. I knew Link knew just about everyone, but a Gerudo? Come on, why would he want to know a theif?

"Nabooru! It's been so long my friend. Still stealing?" Link called to the girl.

She laughed. "It's been too long, old friend," she greeted back. "And I think that stealing would be below my current position as a sage, don't you think?" I felt my eyes widened.

"You're one of the seven sages?" I blurted out. Nabooru turned towards me, her golden eyes piercing through mine.

"What? Are you like most Hyrulians and think a Gerudo couldn't be a sage just because we're thieves?" She asked coolly.

I felt my face reddened. "No, well I was a bit shocked, I'll admit but," I watched her raise her eyebrows. "Aren't the sages on Zelda's side? I thought she was the leader,"

She smiled at me. "So would you think. She doesn't control us though, and with her current plans, we have all been working together with Link to help bring her back to her right mind,"

Riki, who had been gazing at her with wonder, spoke up then. "I'm confused. I thought once awoken, sages couldn't leave their temples anymore," he said still studying her.

"You would be right. Think of it this way, I'm here but I'm not. I am more of a presence in the temple right now because of the time line thing, which I'm sure was explained to you?" We all nodded. "Well, when that day comes I will fully return to the temple to guard Ganondorf. Right now, temple's empty. We have nothing to guard. I can't travel far from the temple though,"

Riki nodded and I couldn't help but think that Marei would probably have slapped him on the head for looking at Nabooru so much. I furrowed my brow. "_Actually,"_ I wondered. _"Where is Marei?"_ It wasn't like we didn't have enough room in the wagon for her. I opened my mouth to ask when Nabooru spoke up again.

"Come on then, we don't have time to waste you know," she said, pulling up the hood of the cloak she was wearing. Nodding, Link did the same and motioned us to follow them. Shaking my head clear, I pulled up my hood and walked into the desert.

I'm not usually one to complain about heat, but this desert was an oven. Our thick cloaks weren't really helping the situation either. I wanted to cast it aside but Link had warned us all that the sun would burn us badly if we didn't stay covered. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we reached the half way point in our journey. An old temple half buried in the sand. The temple of spirit, according to Nabooru.

"We will rest for a while in my temple," she said, leading us to heavy front door. L;ink paused and stared up at the temple nervously.

"Do we have to go inside?" he asked.

I instantly became confused. "Haven't you been here? If I didn't know any better, I would think you were scared,"

He glanced back up at the temple. "I will admit that I am a very… cautious with this temple. It was one of the harder ones to get into,"

Nabooru sighed. "You cleaned the temple Link," she reminded him. "You killed all of the monsters and the witches. You woke up it's sage. It's very safe now," she motioned to the door. "Let's go in,"

Link sighed. "Fine,". Nabooru raised her hand and the doors swung open. We all ran inside, eager to escape the heat. After closing the door, Nabooru led us straight to her alter room, where the symbol of spirit was everywhere.

"We can rest here," she said. Sitting, we passed around the food and began to eat in silence.

Uncomfortable with the quiet I turned to Link. "Isn't there a faster way into Hyrule? How did you get in the first time?" Link pause midbite.

"I used my ocarina to teleport here once I reached the border. Scared Nabooru bad when I suddenly appeared,"

Nabooru laughed. "You sure did,"

"So why didn't you use it this time to just teleport us here or, the first place we have to go to?" Link was shaking his head.

"It only works for one person," he explained, but Nabooru spoke up.

"Yes, normally it does! Oh Goddesses, why didn't I think of this sooner?" she spoke up quickly. By now we had everyone's attention. "By yourself, you can only transport the player with the ocarina of time. But if I lend you some of my power, especially in the temple, I bet we could teleport everyone to another temple!"

Link sat up and looked at her, understanding beginning to cross his face. "Do you really think that that would work?" he asked. She nodded. "Then let's get started,"

There was a buzz of activity as everyone packed up their food and got ready for travel. By magic. It was pretty exciting for the rest of us. If we could travel around Hyrule like this, unseen, our mission would be cut short by quite a few days. Link got out his ocarina and tried a few notes, trying to remember the right song for the next temple.

"Where are we going first?" I asked him, watching him expertly place his fingers on the ocarina. He looked up at me.

"Well, a lot of the temple's have their entrances in the worst places. The Zora's is under the lake and I mean under the lake. We would never be able to get the surface in time with all of this baggage weighing us down. The Goran's temple entrance is in a volcano and we would all burn before we took two steps out the door. The forest temple's isn't in a bad place but it's guarded by wolves and other things that like to pop up, plus I'm waiting on that one. So we're going to go the the shadow temples one because it's in Kakariko village. Then we'll just wait until dark and climb up Death Mountain. It's the safer way," he explained. I stared at him.

"Who built these temples?" I asked, thinking of what Link had to go through to reach them.

He laughed. "They were originally designed with only the hero of time reaching them you know," he said. I shivered a little. No wonder Link was the best. Not only was he born with natural skill, they had been sharpened by constant fighting with strong monsters. I beat up a wooden post.

Nabooru interrupted us. "It's time," she said and pointed at the floor. She had drawn a huge circle filled with shapes to help the spell. Nodding Link got up and told us to listen to Nabooru. It didn't take much longer for us to get ready. Nabooru placed us in specific parts of the circle and told us that no matter what we were not to move. At all. She turned to Link. "Done," she told him.

"Good bye Nabooru," he said, giving her a quick hug. "We will see you soon right?"

She smiled at him as he took his place in the center. "Of course. May the goddesses light your way,"

Link began to play a complex melody and I had the feeling of flying before the shadows around us began to swirl, teleporting us. There was a moment of darkness and then we were being placed gently on the ground. Link had done it.

We had made it to Hyrule.


	23. Already Planning the Victory Party

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch. 23

_Elsia let loose her first arrow as Ganondorf charged her, his dark sword flashing in the pale moonlight of the dream world. It grazed his arm and bought her the second she needed to dodge his attack as he hissed in pain. Her second arrow hit it's spot, burrowing the head deep into his leg. She notched her third, but quickly had to roll out of the way as Ganondorf's sword swung down at her head. As she came up, she let it fly free, not bothering to aim and it was sheer dumb luck that it hit his wrist. This time roaring in pain, he pulled it free and switched to one handed combat. _

_He glared at her, his golden eyes blazing with fury and pain. "You just won't give up easily will you?" he hissed at her. _

_ "Not as long as I have something to fight for," she declared at him, letting go another arrow. He managed to block this one with his sword, now giving her his full concentration, truly evaluating her. _

_He flicked his sword. "Just remember that you brought this upon yourself," he told her coldly and, muttering a few words, charged her again. This time however, she barely had time to dodge to the side as he sliced at her. Watching her dodge to the side, he changed to the direction of his sword to cut at her. Reflexively, she brought up her bow in defense and the claymore bit deep into the thick wood, almost cleaving it in two and splitting the string._

"_Too close," she whispered to herself as she threw the now useless bow aside and drew the small curved sword at her side. She whispered a few words to it and it shined with a new light. Ganondorf squinted at it and stared at her. _

_ "What trick of your goddesses is this?" he asked her smugly, his usual air of arrogance returning. "Giving you a false sense of protection with that shiny little sword? Please, it's as pathetic as your emotions of hope and love," _

"_My emotions? Are you no longer human Ganondorf? No love left in you?" she asked him, her anger beginning to boil. She took a deep breath. She couldn't let him get to her. _

"_There was no love in me in the first place! I was born to thieves and murderers. I'm the king of a hated race! You think that there was ever love inside me? Any hope? How wrong you are Elsi," he laughed at her, his voice echoing through the deserted realm. "Nothing, nothing but anger and desire. Desire for power! When I rule this world, then will I be satisfied,"_

_Elsia shook her head. "I feel… so sorry for you," she said softly. "That you grew up that way. That you don't know the truest power that this world can give you is hope and love," _

"_Do not pity me!" he roared and swung at her wildly. As if watching the world in slow motion, Elsia raised her sword and blocked his strike, knocking him off balance. She spun under his guard and struck him full on in the stomach, slicing through and up. She heard him gasp in disbelief and the sound of his body hitting the ground. She turned towards him and saw him lying on his back, breathing heavily, the anger in his eyes replaced with fear. He turned his head towards her, his hands growing red from the blood seeping beneath them. _

_ "I warned you," she said simply, walking over. Silently she began to trace patterns and symbols, woven together in a huge circle around where Ganondorf lay. "Now you will be trapped here," she said as it began to glow golden. _

"_So you're just going to leave me here to die?" he asked, his voice barely hearable. She looked down into his eyes. _

"_No, you're not going to die. This realm will heal you and keep you here as the price," she said, letting no emotion in her eyes. "And I do pity you," she left him with as she turned to go. She heard him calling her name, screaming at her, begging her, but she didn't look back. It was over and Ganondorf would never bother the world again. As she got closer to the gardens, she felt older with every step. _

_Cithe was waiting for her. "Did you do it?" he asked anxiously. She nodded and smiled at him. _

"_All finished. Is everyone back?" she asked him, looking around at the empty world. _

_He grabbed her hand and squeezed. "The potion in the water wore off about 10 minutes ago. Marita says that the first thing she's doing is placing Ganondorf's body in the dungeon, just to make sure. The truth nearly crushed Janic though. Poor old man," Cithe shook his head. _

_She sighed. "It can't be helped. It's not his fault that his descendents chose the wrong path," She squeezed his hand back and led him to the circle. "Let's go home," she said, smiling. Cithe halted just outside of the circle. _

"_Wait," he said, pulling her back out of the circle. She looked at him, clearly letting the confusion show on her face. _

"_What's wrong?" she asked him. Had they forgotten to do something?_

_He looked at the ground. "No, there's nothing wrong but…," he looked straight into her eyes. "Tonight, I was really scared. For you. That I would lose you when you fought Ganondorf," Elsia was speechless. "It got me thinking, thinking about something that I've been considering ever since we arrived in this city,"_

"_What?" she managed to say. _

"_I was going to wait, because, you only just became of age and we've only been, together, for a few months, but I can't deny how much I love you," _

"_I love you too," she said, bewildered. He held out her gaze for a minute longer before pulling her close into a deep kiss. Elsia instantly kissed him back, still wondering what was going on. She could understand his concern but wasn't that over now? After a while he pulled away and took a few steps back looking up at the night._

"_Do you know that I loved you for a long time? That I cared for you from the first day we met, even if you did shoot arrows at me?" He asked, faraway in the past. She chuckled a little at the memory. _

"_I knew you cared, even if you were sometimes a little annoying," _

_He smiled. "Part of the love," He sighed. "I could feel it, you know? That you were the one for me, always," He turned to her again. "I always knew," Slowly, Cithe dropped to his knee and Elsia gasped, her eyes widening. "I want to marry you Elsia, because I know that I love you more than anything else, that I would do anything for you," he reached into his pocket and drew out a small ring, with just one diamond on it and flanked by sapphires on either side. "So will you please, Elsia of Hyrule, do me the greatest honor of becoming my beloved wife?" _

_Elsia's heart swelled with a thousand different emotions, her head swirled with a million thoughts. But on top of them all was the one undeniable truth. That she belonged with this man in front of her. "Yes, I will," she said, her love for him filling her up. _

_Jumping up, Cithe slid the ring onto her finger and pulled her into another deep kiss. This time when they broke apart, he held on to her hand and led her back to the circle. "Now, let's go home. We have a huge reason to celebrate!" He said proudly as she laughed with joy, murmuring the spell that would take them back. _

_Everything at last, seemed right with the world. _

-X-

_ Ganondorf sat in his circle, nothing to do. That stupid girl! This was her fault. He sighed. No, he had to be honest with himself, it was really his. He had played too much and this was his punishment. He deserved to be here for all eternity. At least the chances were high that Master Ganon wouldn't be able to find him. He leaned back against the invisible barrier. _

_Of course though, it wasn't long before a dark cloud came along and blotted out the sun. A figure shrouded in darkness was approaching. Within a few minutes the figure was outside of Ganondorf's prison and he found himself staring up into the face of his grandfather, Janic. _

_The disappointment in his eyes was obvious. "You've failed again Ganondorf. Losing to that girl, I can't believe you!" He shook his head in disgust. "If only you're father was still alive. He was my best servant, my son. And what does he leave me? A good for nothing grandson!" The words stung Ganondorf and he knew he would here worst later, feel much worst after his master was done with him. _

"_So what are you going to do now Master Ganon? Find someone else? In case you haven't noticed, I am of no use now," Ganondorf relaxed, sure his master couldn't get him. _

_Ganon laughed. "Please, you're questioning my powers? You have yet to see their full extent, and as I warned you, punishment will be increased tenfold," Ganon raised his hand and instantly Ganondorf screamed in pain, every part of him felt like it was about to explode. His insides were melting, his head was splitting open and the horrific scenes of his childhood played before his shut eyes. When it was over he was on his back, breathing heavily, waves of nausea washing over him. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into the eyes of his master. _

"_How-" he managed to gasp. The circle was broken. _

"_Never question my power," Ganon answered simply. He picked Ganondorf up and carried him away from the capital city. Soon they reached another circle of symbols, painted in deep red. Ganon laid Ganondorf's body in the center and backed up. "I'm going to send you back first, but we are leaving Cycania for the Gerudo people. I'm going to take away your current appearance for your original one and you will take your place as their king," With that he began to chant and Ganondorf felt himself slipping back to the mortal world. He didn't question his master on why he was still using him after he had failed. He just laid his head back and let himself slip. _

_He would always be bound to this demon. It was just the hand fate had given him._

-xXx-

I cut up with my knife and swore for what have may been the hundredth time today as the monster's guts spilled on me. I heard a small chirp behind me and turned around, already aiming for the spider thing that had been about to pounce me. I threw the knife and hit my target, right between the eyes. It took a few steps and fell sideways. I ran over and retrieved my knife, only to have to throw it into the back of another monster about to charge Kirah.

"Keep it up!" screamed Link, swinging this way and that with his sword, pieces of dismembered monsters falling all around him. "There can't be many more!"

"I thought you had beaten all the moster's on this stupid mountain!" I screamed back at him. "Why are there so many?"

Togi spoke up, swinging his curved sword down on another. "Technically, these spider like creatures are natural inhabitants of this mountain. They probably have nest everywhere," he answered and he pressed his back against mine, covering all 360 degrees of vision between us.

Hyra swung her spear and knocked one off balance, ending it with a quick thrust into it's underbelly. "Well then, how about next time we don't blow up every single crack we find on this stupid mountain!"

Link killed the last of them and walked over and hit Togi on the top of the head. "Idiot," he shook his head. "Didn't I say we had to be careful? Give me the bomb bag," Guiltily, Togi handed it over and Link tied it to his belt. "Come on, it's not much further now," We continued up the mountain path, much more aware of our surroundings. Link led us straight up, pass the lair of the dodongos and to the last path that would lead us to the entrance of Goran City. Link held up a hand.

"Hold on," he warned. He peered around the corner and yelled out. We all stood there confused until we heard a something pounding down the path. A few seconds later, a rock hit the rock wall and Link was laughing. I didn't understand why until the rock seemed to split apart until it was a goran. It stared at Link.

"What did you do that for Brother?" it asked.

Still grinning, Link offered his hand to the goran. "I'm sorry Brother, I didn't want to risk my friends here being hit by you on the way up,"

The goran got to it's feet and and eyed us. "You're bringing outsiders in Brother?"

Link nodded. "Just to talk to the chief. They are my trusted companions,".

The goran scratched its head and glanced at us again. "All right, just make sure they stay with you Brother," He led us up the road to the entrance of Goran City. The two guards stopped us again to question us and after a short explanation, we finally entered.

I gasped. The site below us was amazing. The city was carved from the mountain rock and extended downward for several levels. Link looked over the thin wooden railing and whistled.

"You guys expanded huh?" he asked looking down. The goran nodded and led us to the stairs. Link looked over at the stairs and then over the railing. I saw a dangerous gleam behind them. "I think I'll meet you guys down there," he said, taking off his pack and cloak "The chief still lives on the last floor right?"

"Link? What are you doing?" I asked and looked over the rails at what he was staring at. Butterflies jumped into my stomach. It was at least 5 levels to the bottom and along the way were various platforms and ropes. If you jumped you could survive, but only if you knew what you were doing. "Don't-!" I called to him but it was too late. With a yell, Link flung himself over the railing, grabbing hold of a short rope and swinging to one of the platforms. He rolled off it and grabbed hold of small piece of wood jutting out of the wall, flipping to another rope. He was impressive to watch and reached the bottom of the city in about a minute, laughing his head off as if he were seven.

I ran to the stairs, grabbing his stuff and pushing Togi ahead of me, who was insisting that he could do it too. I really didn't want to find out. We reached the bottom and Link was grinning like a fool. "What did you think?" he asked eagerly. The others were praising his performance, but I just stood there silent, my arms crossed. Link looked over and his smile faltered a bit. "Let's go guys," he said, heading for the door. I followed and he looked back at me again, his expression puzzled.

I could see he was about to ask me what was wrong but at that moment, a deep voice called out from the doorway.

"Brother Link!" boomed the giant and very solid goran standing in the doorway, arms crossed.

Link stepped forward and greeted him. "Chief Darunia," he said, bowing his head respectfully.

"What brings you here my brother?" asked the giant chief. "You haven't been here in many years, or at least, not in this part of Hyrule,"

Link kneeled before the goran chief. "Chief Darunia, what I ask you for, I ask you for the good of Hyrule and as one of the seven sages whose job it is to keep Hyrule safe. I need you to support my cause and go against the princess to defeat the demon Ganon and his servants," Link paused, waiting.

Darunia waved his hand. "Rise hero," he grunted. "I'm surprised that you need to ask me this. You are the hero of time, the one destined to save Hyrule. Of course we will follow you," He smiled and thumped his chest. "The goran's owe you still for saving our race. We intend to repay it,"

Link smiled and nodded. "Thank you chief. If you'll excuse me, I need to get to the other sages. We only have a few days time,"

The goran waved his hands at us. "Then go! We will meet you on the battle field and after we have won, we will feast!" The cave echoed with his laughter. "I will see you soon Brother Link,"

Link nodded once more. "See you soon Chief, may the goddesses watch over you," With that we all left, this time (thankfully) taking the stairs. Well, one down and four more sages to go. I guess this wasn't so bad of a mission after all.

I couldn't have been more wrong.


	24. Girl Problems Always Have Link

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.24

_ "Elsia did you hear me?" asked Marita, waving her hand in front of Elsia's face. Elsia blinked a few times, coming back from her day dream. She looked at Marita and smiled. _

_ "I'm sorry," she said softly. "What were you saying your highness?" Marita waved her hand dismissively. _

_ "Drop the formalities Elsia," she said, turning back to her vanity. "I was asking you which one you preferred," she held up two different hair pieces. Elsia bit her lip. _

_ "Why do you ask me these things? You know I'm not very good with choosing fashion," Elsia studied the two different pieces. Same shape, one silver and the other bronze. One had crystals, the other rubies. She looked and sighed. "What does it matter?" she asked. _

_ Marita put one hand on her hip and glared . "How you going to plan a wedding if you can't decide on little things?" she hissed under her breath. _

_ "Quiet!" Elsia hissed back. "This castle has ears you know," she glanced towards the bedroom door, on the lookout for servants. Even though Cithe had asked her to marry him, they both agreed that it wouldn't look good if they got married so young, especially with Elsia having just turned 15 a few months back. So they would keep it a secret between them until they were at least 16 and 17. Of course, Marita had magically found out and now she was in on it. _

_ Marita held up her hands. "Sorry, I forgot your paranoid. Come on, it's time to go greet the suitors," she sighed and stared at the pieces. Glancing down at her blue dress, she took the silver one and slid it into place. "Silver always goes with cool colors," she explained to Elsia's raised eyebrow. Elsia shook her head, getting tired of Marita's constant lessons. Getting up, she followed the princess out of the door to the main balcony overlooking the inner gardens. It was teeming with people, princes and their trains of servants, all milling around and conversing. _

_ Marita stepped out and held up a hand. Instantly, the noise died down and everyone's attention turned to her. She waved at them in greeting. "Good day everyone. I am so glad that you could all make it here today for the games," she greeted them with a wide smile. "I am sure that you will all do your very best in the challenges but remember, the greatest strength that I will be watching for is your dedication and sportsmanship," _

_ Elsia took a step forward and raised her hands above her hand. "Let the games begin!" she exclaimed and a loud cheer went up as the men raced to the first challenge. _

_ Marita started walking back into the castle. "Let us go take our seats," she said nodding to Elsia. _

_ Elsia smiled back at her friend. "Yes My Lady," she said bowing slightly and following behind. They walked to the royal stadium, guards on either side of them. The first event was just about ready to begin when they arrived. Marita took her seat next to her father, who gave her a broad smile that crinkled his eyes. His health had improved greatly with the discovery of Gaelit's treachery and Marita had almost called off the games, but her father had convinced her to keep them on. She just wouldn't be forced to choose now though. _

_ "A beautiful day for royal games, wouldn't you agree my dear?" he greeted his daughter. _

_ "Indeed Father," she replied, her smile growing wider still. _

_ Elsia bowed to King Daitu. "Good Morning your Majesty," she greeted him. _

_ "Why hello there Elsia! How are you this morning young lady?" He asked her, gesturing for her to take a seat next to them. "I'm sure my sister and her husband will be here soon," he assured her when he caught her glancing around. _

_ She blushed a bit and smiled back at the kind king. "Of course Your Majesty," she agreed as she took her seat next to Marita. Soon enough Lady Surora and Cain arrived and took their seats. Finally, it was time for the first event. _

_ The young princes strode onto the field, fully robed in their countries colors and arms. They all held proud looks on their faces and quickly took their places. All except for Cithe who glanced up to the stands and waved at Elsia and his family, grinning like a fool. Marita shook her head. "That cousin of mine," she sighed and giggled. _

_ It was a beautiful day and everything went off without a hitch. During the games, Marita was constantly commenting quietly to Elsia about the competitors, scribbling notes on a piece of parchment the whole time. This one was cute, but he seemed rather rude. Another one wasn't very fast but always accepted his defeat with grace. So on and so forth for the whole day. Elsia couldn't remember having such a… normal day. She was completely relaxed, enjoying the show and the sunshine. She felt well rested and everyone she loved was safe. _

_ Midday break came and Elsia sighed with relief. She was starving and they were apparently making her favorite today. She started to get up when Marita grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?" she asked, curiousity on her face. _

_ Elsia smiled and laughed. "Where else? To get food?" she explained gesturing to the departing people. _

_ Marita shook her head. "Sit Elsia, you're in a noble position now. You're food will come to you," said the princess. And it did. Along with the new royal advisor, Haiton, a clumsy fellow with a great gift for speech. _

_ "Good day Your Majesty! Princess Marita. Hello there Lord and Lady – Woah!" Haiton greeted before tripping down the stands seats. Elsia moved her plate aside as he rolled past her, out of harm's way. _

_ "Good day, Haiton," she greeted, holding back her laughter. He popped up. _

_ "Well hello Lady Elsia!"he greeted. "Is that steak?" He inquired, staring at her plate. _

_ Marita laughed. "Look Elsi dear, another meat enthusiast. Just what we need. Between the two of you we'll have no cows left!" They both blushed and Haiton sat down to eat. _

_ Elsia leaned back and closed her eyes, basking in the sunshine. What a beautiful, normal day. This is what life should be like. _

_ And, for once, that was how her life was._

-xXx-

"_I will do whatever you want of me,_" I pleaded in my head. "_Just please, please oh fair and just goddesses let it stop!_" The following recruiting day had brought me face to face with one of the worst situations ever. It was torture, so pure and evil, specifically designed for me.

"Oh Link, you're so amazing! I can't believe that you defeated such a powerful creature by yourself!"

I groaned quietly again. It was ANOTHER girl flirting with Link. Come on! This one wasn't even human. I burrowed my head in my hands as Princess Ruto complimented my boyfriend again.

"You're just so strong! Could you flex for me again, you're muscles are just so well defined," she said, her voice soft. I looked up and could hardly keep myself from pouncing on the princess. She was leaning way to close. And Link was being. Totally. Oblivious.

"_I wonder if I could survive the dive off of that waterfall," _I contemplated. This was terrible. It had been going on since Link and I had arrived by ourselves. Everyone else had been sleeping still at the campsite and we had wanted some alone time.

We had walked along the river, watching the sunset, gotten in the Zora home without a glitch and headed straight for the throne room where we had greeted the king and then…

"Link tell me again about the tribe in Termina. Did you say you could turn into a Zora there? How intriguing! I bet you're just as handsome as one of us," Ruto cooed him.

I cleared my throat and looked at Link meaningfully. "Link dear," I said sweetly. "Why don't you tell the kind princess about our problem in Hyrule," I reminded him gently.

"Oh right! Thank you Malon!" he said, giving me a warm smile. "You see Ruto, we-"

Ruto stopped him, holding up her hand and looked over at me. "Sweetie?" she asked coldly. "You call him sweetie?"

I stared right back at her. "Of course I do. He is my boyfriend," Ruto frowned and turned her attention back to Link.

"You're courting this girl?" she asked slowly.

Link looked confused. "Yes, I am holding her hand…" he replied, showing her. She stared at our linked hands like they were poisonous.

She humphed. "Well Link, I never took you as a redhead lover," she remarked coolly. Scooting a bit farther from Link she crossed her arms. "Why are you here today?"

Taken a bit aback by her sudden change in attitude Link was suddenly speechless. He looked over at me, his eyes saying "HELP!"

I sighed. "We came to ask for your help. You are the Water Sage and we are in need of your support," I started for him.

Ruto waved her hand dismissively. "Right, right the Zelda thing," she said bored. "I already agreed to help. What exactly do you need Link?" she inquired.

Link finally found his voice and continued on to explain the plan. While it looked like Ruto was no longer paying attention, she was completely focused on him. He was almost finished when a yell went up from below. Ruto looked up alarmed and ran to the edge of the waterfall, the two of us hot on her heels. She looked down and gasped, instantly going to dive if it wasn't for the guard that pulled her back.

"No Princess! You musn't go. We will deal with the siren!" he said, diving off, spear in hand. Ruto looked out again, biting her lip while Link and I strained our eyes to see what was happening.

"What's a siren?" I whispered, watching the guards gather.

"It's an ancient race of women who lure travelers to their deaths at sea. They are long enemies with the Zoras," he whispered back. "But they're miles away and stop killing a while ago. I met a few while traveling to the same country where… I … met Hyra… Link paled.

A chill went down my spine. "You don't think?" I said, horrified. Link didn't answer. Instead, he ran and dived of the cliff into the pool, swimming towards the growing force of Zora warriors.

Of course, Princess Ruto completely misunderstood his action. "There he goes," she sighed, smiling. "My hero. He's so brave,"

I rubbed my temple. "He's not going to kill the siren, if that's what you think," I muttered, mostly to myself.

The princess turned, eyes flahing dangerously. "I don't like you Hyrulian," she started slowly to me. "You stole my man from me,"

I raised my eyebrow. "Really," I said in disbelief. "On what grounds?" I crossed my arms and stood my ground as she drew up to me. I towered above the little fish women.

She squinted her eyes. "He was my fiancé first," she hissed.

I glared right back. "Yea, so I heard. You only gave him a jewel as long as he promised to marry you. Then you became a sage and you let him go, remember?"

She puffed up her chest and I got ready to fight for my guy but then we heard Link cry out. I turned and saw Link on the ground, his face twisted in pain and I didn't even hesitate. I threw myself off that waterfall. Unfortunately, I never did learn how to dive right. In other words, I hit that water and was out like a light.

I woke up sputtering and coughing, water forcing itself out of my mouth and nose. I felt terrible. I rolled onto my side and (in the presence of everyone) lost my breakfast. I felt a strong hand on my back holding on my side, supporting me. When I finished, I just laid there and shuddered, completely worn. I felt someone pulling me onto their lap, wincing a little. I looked up into Link's face and smiled weakly. "Are you okay?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

Link rolled his eyes. "I am now," he complained. "You nearly gave me a heart attack when you hit the water," He frowned at me but I could see the relief in his eyes.

"I was coming to save you," I muttered. "You were hurt,"

He shrugged and winced. "I got stabbed in the arm," he said. "No big deal, it happens,"

Ruto who had been staring quietly at us spoke up. "But it shouldn't in the land of a friend," she said miserably, looking down at her feet. "I should have gone with you,"

"No Link it was my fault. I shouldn't have come,"

I looked around now and saw that the rest of the group had finally caught up with us, Hyra looking exceptionally unhappy.

"You were the siren, weren't you?" I asked, still barely able to hear myself. I was pretty sure water was still swirling in my brain.

She flinched at the word. "I didn't know," she insisted quietly. "My mom left when I was young. It was just my dad, my three elder brothers and me," Her eyes were red and puffy. She had definitely been crying. "I mean, I suspected. Beauty in my country is something rare. Living where we do really toughens up the people. Most women are short, thick with greasy hair that they crop. Then you had me," she gestured to herself. "My father would never tell me. Only said that I was like a pearl amongst oysters,"

I pushed myself up and walked (okay I had to crawl) to where Hyra was sitting. She seemed to shrink as I approached. Then I surprised everyone. I sat next to her and wrapped my arms around her, giving her a hug. "It's okay," I soothed. "I understand. You just wanted to help us,"

Hyra didn't say anything for a second. Then she let out a sob and hugged me back, burrowing her head in my shoulder. We just sat there and I listened to her talk. It was like all her bottled emotions were just let out. The flooded out of her and I just comforted her as a friend. She talked about the women's jealousy towards her. How she was shunned. How the sirens would stare at her curiously from the water's edge. It was heart wrenching. I could finally understand her devotion to Link. He had come, with his band and accepted her, taken her to see the world. He was her savior. It was just who he was.

Everyone left us alone while she talked. When she was finally done, we went to the throne room, side by side and found them waiting for us. I sat next to Link. "So is everything ready?" I asked, looping our fingers together.

"We finished talking a while ago. We waited for you two before eating," he explained, stroking the back of my hand.

"So is that it for allies? Are we finally going to battle?" I questioned. I knew the day was closing in and I couldn't be more anxious.

"Soon. There is still one last race I have to talk to," he said, slightly distracted. I stared at him confused.

"What other one? Haven't we asked them all. The only other race is the forest children…"

Link was silent. I stared, horrified. "Link… you're not going to ask them to fight are you?"

Link blink at looked at me in shock. "Of course not!" he exclaimed. "No, I need to ask Saria something. She's a sage too," he explained.

I blushed. "Right," I murmured to myself, digging into my food that had just been given.

We ate in silence for a while, everyone talking around us. "It's just going to be us too tomorrow," Link said quietly.

"Like today?"

"No, I'm sending them to the camp and were going to go back later,"

I nodded, not questioning. It made sense. The Kokiri didn't take well to outsiders.

I went to sleep that night wondering as I often did these days about what would be next.


	25. What Happens in Camp

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch. 25

_Elsia woke up, stretching after her good night sleep and smiled. She would never get tired of a good night sleep. It was almost a year later and she hadn't had a single nightmare. Unless she counted the one of Marita dragging her around shopping for her wedding. Mostly though, she tested her powers. She didn't think that she would need them again but just in case, she needed to be prepared. So while she slept, she tested and then wrote down what happened in her journal. _

_ She had just finished writing when Cithe came in, carrying a tray laden with food. Elsia looked up and laughed. "Shouldn't I be the one carrying you food today?" she teased. _

_ Cithe grinned. "You took too long so I just came here," he said happily, swooping in to place a kiss on her cheek. He set the tray down before her and sat next to her on the bed. _

_ She turned and kissed him back. "Happy Birthday honey," she said. "I assume they made all of your favorites?" she asked, eying the banquet._

_ "Yep!"_

_She grinned with him and they tucked in, enjoying Cithe's breakfast feast in bed. Between bites, Cithe told her all about what he planned to do during the day. With her included in every plan of course. _

"… _And then we'll be back just in time for my party and knighting ceremony!" he finished, gulping down the last of his juice. _

_Elsia leaned close and whispered to him. "What a lucky girl I am, getting to marry a knight. It's every women's fantasy come true,"_

"_Lucky you for finding me first," _

"_Lucky you that I was interested. It only took you three years or so," she teased. He pulled her into a hug, laughing. She got up and moved the tray from the bed to the table nearby. Standing, she put her hands on her hips and stared at her fiancé. "So are we going or not? You have a lot planned you know," _

_Grinning slyly, Cithe left her room but not before kissing her once more. "I'll meet you in the stables," he promised. _

_Stretching quickly, Elsia got ready in her riding outfit that Marita had ordered for her soon after her arrival. It was a beautiful light blue and would look well with the lilac ribbon in her hair and silver colored boots… Elsia's eyes widened in surprise and she found herself laughing again. She sounded like the princess. She was still giggling to herself as she descended the stairs to the courtyard. _

_Cithe was already waiting with their two horses, still smiling with all his teeth showing. She took her mare's reins and led her out of the courtyard to the back of the palace gardens. There, they both mounted and rode out of the gate held open by the guard into the countryside. _

"_What an amazing day," Cithe noted, glancing up at the clear blue sky. _

"_Seems like you're going to get a great birthday," They rode for silence for a bit after that until they reached the cliffs just a few miles from the city. _

"_Let's see if the view from up here is just as good as that from home," Cithe said, excitement in his voice. Grabbing his pack from the saddle, they tethered the horses by a small stream and set off, climbing steadily up the worn path. It only took an hour or so to reach the top, but it was still a breathtaking site. _

"_You can see the whole valley from here," Elsia murmured, sitting next to Cithe on the ledge, leaning into him. He folded his hand in hers and just sat there, enjoying the peace. "There is nothing quite like the beauty of nature," he quoted from her favorite book. "Nothing more perfectly in order. No artist on Earth can capture what the goddesses themselves laid down years ago and no poet, not even I, depict it's true form in mere words," _

_She continued it. "No song of a bird will ever sound as sweet when sung by men and no color of silk match that of Nature's bountiful harvest. This that the goddesses brought years ago will still be here even after the last breathe of man has left his throat and will thrive even after his cities have turned to dust," _

_Cithe laughed. "We sound like scribes," he grimaced. _

_Elsia shook her head. "There is nothing wrong with a little poetic word every now and then," _

_Cithe leaned back and sighed. "I love you is pretty much it for my poetics," he admitted. _

_Elsia laughed. "I think that is the best poem in the world," She closed her eyes and laid back, letting her legs dangle. She felt Cithe lie down next to her, their shoulder's brushing. He let go of her hand and placed it on her face. She rolled her head to the side, resting it in his palm and half opened her eyes. _

_He stroked her face and whispered gently to her. "You are the only one for me. The one I want to see night and day. The one who makes me forget what I have to say. And for some reason that's okay. Because I love you more than anything here,"_

_She smiled at his corny attempt. "Beautiful," She pressed close and kissed him full in the mouth. He kissed her right back and drew her into his arms. They kissed for a while passionately, the only two in the world until finally Cithe pulled away. He sighed happily and held her close, her head now resting on his chest. _

"_That was the best birthday present ever," _

_Elsia giggled. "Then why did you stop?"_

_Cithe put on a pouting face and pointed up at the sky. "Cause we have to get moving," He let go and got back onto his feet, helping Elsia up after him. "Let's go my love," They hiked back down the cliff and rode back to the city, this time entering through the market place to shop at the exotic booths. Afterwards, they returned to the palace where Marita instantly whisked her away. _

"_You are coming with me now," the princess commanded, half dragging Elsia up to her chambers. "How dare you disappear for the whole day!" _

"_Marita it's only a few hours past noon,"_

_Marita kept going though. "The whole day! I needed to talk to you!" she practically wailed, much to the surprise of a few nearby servants who were used to the princess being completely composed. They reached the princesses chambers and Marita shut the door behind them. _

_Elsia stood there, a half smile on her face. "Well, I'm here now," she soothed the princess. "What is it you need your highness?" _

_Marita sat on her bed and breathed deeply. "I have important news," she began. _

_Elsia sat on one of the room's chairs. "And that would be?" she asked politely. _

"_I have chosen a husband," _

_Elsia's mouth dropped. "Really? Just now? But the games ended months ago with Sir Firkios as the winner," She shook her head. "You told me he was too much of a narcissist to make a good king,"_

_Marita waved her hand. "Yes, yes well I haven't chosen him," she said. "For the past few months I have been in contact with another of the young princes who I talked to at the awards banquet,"_

_Elsia raised an eyebrow. "More please? You talked to a lot of guys that night," _

"_He was tall, with brown hair?"_

"_That narrows it down to about fifteen princess. Not to mention its been months," _

_Marita sighed is exasperation. "It was Prince Benigio of Falina," _

_Elsia snapped her fingers. "Is that the one with the emerald eyes? No wonder you haven't been around for the past few months," Elsia smiled wide. "Well I'm happy for you. I am assuming that he will be here tonight for you to announce the good news?"_

"_Yes,"_

"_At your cousin's birthday celebration,"_

"_Yes,"_

"_And knighting ceremony, one of the biggest days in Cithe's life?"_

_Marita paled. "You think that I would be so shallow as to overcast my cousin's big moment?" _

"_No Your Highness, I simply want to know how you plan to go about this," _

_Pursing her lips, Marita looked up at Elsia with pleading eyes. "Well, I thought that maybe… the announcement of a double wedding of the kingdom's two heirs would help?" _

_Feeling her mouth fall open, Elsia quickly shut it and stared at Marita in shock. "Excuse me?" she managed to get out._

"_Come on Elsia! It's been months since you guys agreed to marry and you're almost 17 now and Cithe just turned 18!"_

"_Yes, but still. We were going to wait…"_

"…_Until you're 17__th__ birthday, I know," Marita said curtly. "Can't you advance it a bit? For you future queen?" There were those pleading eyes again. Try as she might, Elsia just couldn't say no. _

"_Fine, I'll ask Cithe about it," she mumbled. Marita beamed at her and gave her a quick hug. "I'll go with you," she said calmly, but Elsia could see the excitement dancing behind her eyes. "Let us go then," With that, Marita was out the door, Elsia at her heels. After finding Cithe and checking with him (and he was, of course, more than happy to agree) the girls went to get ready. _

_Now, in her life Elsia had been to quite a few parties. There were her tiny birthday parties when she still had her family. There were the ones at Cain's and Lady Surora's house out in the country. Then there were castle parties. Elsia had only one thing to say about them. _

_They were extremely dull. _

_By the second hour or so, Elsia was ready to fall asleep. Unsurprisingly, like most of the events held by court, the party was just too organized. Not to mention that most of the guest were over what Cithe deemed "the partying age". Mostly people sat still and talked in hushed conversation. The only source of entertainment came from a poorly trained court jester and the orchestra was playing the kind of slow music that lured children to bed. _

"_Please tell me it gets better," she whispered to Cain. _

_He shook his head. "There is a list of reasons why Surora married and ran away with me. I'm pretty sure this was near the top," Lucky for Cithe and the Lady, they weren't here yet, still prepping for the ceremony. Marita was sitting right at the king's side and completely engrossed with Prince Benegio, who hadn't left her side since his arrival. _

"_No more parties please. Not until we're home," _

_Cain stuck out his hand and shook hers. "I completely agree," On that note, the music picked up a little and everyone turned towards the entrance to the hall. There was Cithe, in arm with his mother, a giant smile spread on his face. He held his head high and walked with overflowing confidence to where the king was waiting. _

_Cithe knelt before King Daitu and the king drew the sword he was holding from its scabbard. "Cithe of the Cycanian royal line," he began in a loud voice. "Do you swear from now until your death, that you shall draw your weapons only in defense of Cycania?" _

"_I do,"_

"_And do you swear that you will uphold our laws and honor the knights code?"_

"_I do,"_

"_That you will put your life in harms way to protect the innocent?"_

"_I do, with honor, promise myself into the service of the king's knights," Cithe answered solomenly. _

"_Then it's with great pride that I declare you, dear nephew, one of my knights," Finished the king, knighting Cithe with the sword. "Rise Sir Cithe," The hall erupted in cheers of congratulations and Elsia got up to congratulate Cithe with a hug. _

"_I'm so happy for you," she whispered in his ear. When she let go, Cithe held tight to her hand and smiled. _

"_We still have one matter of business to take care of," he whispered back, amidst the cheers. Elsia felt her heart skip a beat and she could hardly speak. Yes, he had already asked her to marry him, but this was something completely different. To declare it in front of all these people. What would they think? Would Cain and Lady Surora accept it? A thousand questions raced through her head, stunning her so badly that when Cithe began to pull her forward she stopped in her tracks. _

_Cithe turned to her, a worried expression on his face. "Is everything okay?" he asked, his eyes catching and holding hers. Elsia stared straight into Cithe's eyes and everything seemed to melt away. The world stopped for a minute and Elsia only saw Cithe. But that wasn't all. She saw his love for her, everything that he had been with her through. She saw the boy she had met in the woods, saw the man he had become. He was always there for her to help her, putting her needs before his. He had held her when Gaelit had tormented her with nightmares. He had joked with her, fought with her, grown up with her. He wasn't perfect but he was as close as she could get. A brief memory of a vision she had had back at the temple came to her mind and her heart filled with warmth. What did what the rest of the world think matter if he was with her?_

"_Nothing," she said, joy glowing in her eyes. He squeezed her hand and together they walked to where Marita and Prince Benegio were waiting. She smiled at her friend. "Are you ready?" she whispered. _

_Marita nodded once and wrapped her fingers around Benegio's. He looked down at her and Elsia saw love in his eyes as well. "So much love in one place" Elsia thought. _

_Benegio cleared his throat and everyone's attention turned towards them. "Excuse my good lords and ladies," he spoke up. "Sir Cithe and I have an important announcement,"_

_Cithe turned towards the room. "As you know, both Benegio and I are now of age and have decided to take brides," With that, both guys got down on one knee and pulled out rings from their pockets. The whole room was dead silent, even as they slide the rings onto Elsia and Marita's fingers. It was only when they stood back up and kissed their respective ladies that the whole room exploded with noise. The king rushed forward to congratulate them and many of the nobles rushed forward. In the background Elsia heard Cain shouting. _

"_It's about time you two!" Elsia couldn't help but laugh. They had known all along. She really shouldn't have been that surprised. It was a great rest of the night. The orchestra broke out some livelier tunes and they danced. There was no more hushed conversation and at some point the king broke out the mead. Elsia could barely contain her laughter when her fiancé and Benegio climbed on the table and begun to sway and belt out an old folk song. _

_She took back what she thought before. With the right people, royal parties are the best. _

-xXx-

We woke up that morning to a change of plans.

The first thing I noticed that told me something was different was that the sun was already up. Link had said we would be leaving before the sunrise. The next was that Link was just sitting by the campfire, a pained look on his face. Somewhere over head an owl screeched, instantly freaking me out. Owls were nocturnal, one out in the day meant something was wrong with it. Link looked over head too, but didn't look freaked at all.

I turned my attention back to Link, worried. Sitting down next to him, I wrapped my fingers around his. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing,"

I shook my head. "You can't pretend around me you know," Link glanced over and forced a small smile.

"Yea, I know," He sighed "We can't go to the village," he told me. "I'm technically an adult now," He said bitterly.

I frowned. "But you got in as an adult before haven't you?" I asked confused.

"When I was asleep for seven years in the temple of time. I had a grownups body but my mentality was that of a child's. I actually grew up both physically and mentally, so I'm not allowed in,"

"Is it going to be a huge problem?"

Link shrugged and stood up. "I'm not sure yet," I could see him thinking, trying to find away around. Leaving him alone for now, I went to wake up the others. By "wake" I mean I kicked most of them awake while banging on a pot.

"Just five more minutes," Togi grumbled, rolling over. I smiled evilly.

I bent down so I could whisper in Togi's ear. "Do you really want to play this game with me Togi? There's a very nice stream a few meters away and I'm sure you need a bath,"

Togi made no response and I shrugged my shoulders. "Hyra! A little help here?" She smiled and came over. I gestured towards the lake and then at Togi. She got the message pretty quickly and we dragged Togi over to the bank. I said stream but it was still deep enough to go to my waist. I tested it with my hand and shivered. "Nice and chilly," I turned towards Togi's sleeping form. "Last chance Togino," I warned him.

His muffled reply wasn't very nice so Hyra and I decided we needed to wash out that mouth of his. Long story short, after much wrestling with dead weight, we got Togi in. He shrieked like a little girl and Hyra and I could only laugh as he hauled himself out of the river. "You two are going to pay for that," he replied icily (no pun intended).

Hyra's eyes widened as we came to the same conclusion. "You wouldn't – " we started but Togi charged us and we were too close to the bank. Yelling, we all plunged into the very chilly stream. I surfaced for air.

"How dare you," I spluttered. "This is my only change of clothes,"

"Mine too! Now we can all freeze our asses of together,"

"You are so childish sometimes!"

"You two are the ones who threw me in first!"

"What the hell are you three doing?"

Our bickering ended as we all look up guiltily at Link. Now I really felt like a child. A naughty one. I looked down.

"We have a war in just three days and you guys are splashing around in the river like we're on holiday break!" Link accused us.

"We were waking Togino up," Hyra explained meekly. Link rubbed his temples.

"In the river? What are you guys, five?" With that he turned and stormed off. We dragged ourselves out of the river and went back to camp.

I turned to Togi. "I'm sorry Togi I shouldn't have done that,"

"We're all a little stressed. I get it that you were only trying to have some fun,"

I looked over a Link. "Looks like the time for fun has passed." I said sadly.

We packed up camp and got going. With the recent change of plans, we were all now heading to the camp the others had set up nearby, hidden. It took us a few hours but we finally made it. Only our destination was not what I was expecting.

"This is a giant cliff wall," I pointed out.

Link didn't look at me. "I told you it was hidden," he took out his ocarina and played a few quick notes. An entrance to a tunnel appeared before us but I wasn't really paying attention to it. I was too busy thinking. Link was being distant and I had a hard time believing it was just because of the river incident. I grabbed his hand and while he didn't resist me, he didn't react in any way either. I was about to question him when we reached the other side and I was knocked speechless.

Before me was a small valley. I could see the other side, no more than three miles away. Most of it was covered in trees, but the area closest to us was a meadow, now filled with tents and campfires, people bustling about from place to place, rings set up for practice. Nearby a small brook ran and more people were filling buckets.

We descended the hill into the meadow, greeting our friends and new recruits as we went. Word got around rather quickly that our group had returned and by the time we had reached the middle of the camp, most of the people had gathered, silent in anticipation to hear what had happened.

Link decided to just cut to the point. "So we have gotten all the sages and their people on our side with the exception of Impa as she is the princess's personal guard along with her people. She has promised however, that she will not get in our way unless it becomes evident that we aim to kill or seriously harm the princess. We have gotten the forest sage Saria on our side but … her people have refused to allow me to speak to them," There was a general uproar to this, but Link rose his hand and everyone became silent.

"We can still talk to Saria though right?" I asked him. "She's still talking to you,"

Link nodded. "I will be going to visit her tomorrow, but not in the village. And I will be going alone," he put emphasis into his words, making it clear that this matter was closed.

"Is the plan for the day of the invasion still intact?" someone asked from the back.

"Yes, it is,"

Leonel spoke up from the back, instantly getting everyone's attention. He was the eldest going out to fight, the most experienced. Even Link looked to him for guidance. It was even rumored that Leonel had once saved Link's life. "Sir," he addressed Link. "It has come to my attention that since we are going into battle soon, you might want to practice on of your people's older traditions," Leonel gestured towards those around him. "It has always been custom for Cycanian soldiers and their allies to celebrate a few nights prior to going into battle. It's to help increase spirit," he paused. "And we never did get to have our festival,"

Link frowned and I could tell he was trying to control himself. "How can you think to party at a time like this?" he asked calmly. "Isn't that equal to counting your cuccos before they hatch?"

Leonel shrugged. "I'm just telling you how it is sir. Honestly, I think it would be good for our recruits. They've been training so hard,"

"Best not to spoil them now then,"

"Link!"

Everyone froze and I found all their eyes staring at me. Oops, didn't mean to be that loud. I went on anyway, stepping closer to Link so that I could whisper. "What is wrong with you," I hissed.

'What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? With everyone for that matter. You are all acting like kids. Do you really want to party right now in the middle of everything? Someone has to be the grown up around here,"

Inside, I was taken aback by what Link had said. I guess the fact he couldn't get into the village where he grew up anymore was getting to him more than I thought. I kept a calm face though. "There is a difference," I replied coolly. "Between being an adult and being a dictator,"

Link took a step back and blinked. His eyes filled with rage and for a minute, I thought he might snap at me. But his eyes softened as he took in what I said and he turned back towards the crowd. "I guess… one small party won't hurt us," he admitted at last, a bit of a smile playing on his lips. "But if anyone is caught drinking booze I'm going to challenge them to a sword fight. Let's see how great you are when you're drunk," With that there was a great cheer and people began to hurry off to prepare.

Togi grabbed me and started to drag me off. "Come on, you are still my assistant! We have so much to plan! I think I've found a few chemical formulas to change the fire colors! And," he said pitching his voice low. "You need to give Link a minute to think," I nodded and Togi let go of my arm. We started to unpack his equipment that had been brought when a strong pair of hands reached and grabbed a box for me.

"Let me help you there," I rolled my eyes.

"You of all people should know I don't need any help," I said turning to face Nael. He grinned down to me and ran a finger through his messy brown hair.

"Yeah, you have a point but it wouldn't be very gentlemanly for me not too. I do have a knights code to follow you know," Togi went off to check with someone else and I wished he'd come back soon.

I lifted a smaller box off the wagon. "So you keep saying. I'm trying to figure you out Nael,"

He lifted an eyebrow at me. "Whatever do you mean Malon?" he asked innocently. "Are you interested in me?"

I laughed. Despite his shameless flirting, Nael was a good guy. He was easy to talk to but we didn't share the same chemistry as say, me and a certain hero. "Not in the way you wish I was," I told him.

"Oh?"

"Nope. What I mean is that, I'm wondering how you can be a knight so young. All the others we caught were years older than you,"

I guess I was onto something because Nael suddenly became very uncomfortable. "I got knighted young," he explained quickly.

"So I gathered but see, there are only two ways a soldier is knighted so young," I pressed. "Either he's a man of great skill, which, you are not because I beat you so easily -,"

"You tricked me!"

"-Which you shouldn't have fallen for if you were a man of great skill," he became quiet. "Or the other way would be thaaat…" I glanced at him. It had hit me suddenly when we were traveling. The way he held himself, that he wouldn't really acknowledge Link, his features, the fact he was an actual, trained gentleman. The biggest hit though, was the fact his ears, hidden by his shaggy hair, were not pointed at all.

"That?"

I turned from the box I had just set on the ground. "You're a prince," I accused him.

His eyes widened. "You are much smarter than I gave you credit for," he whispered.

"Ah ha I knew it! I knew it! You're probably her fiancé aren't you?"

"Shush Malon! Not so loud. If people find out, they won't trust me,"

I laughed. "You flirting with me is just an act isn't it?" No answer. "Fine, go ahead and don't tell anyone. I can keep a secret. Just answer me one question,"

"What?"

"Why go against her and help us? You're risking a lot aren't you? I'm betting there is some kind of treaty on the line when you two get married,"

"Actually you're wrong. Zelda chose to marry me years ago. We're best friends and our kingdoms have been allies for years. But I noticed the changes over the years. When I heard Link's explanation, it all just made sense. I have to help her," His eyes were pleading.

"Fine. I'll keep your secret. Go get ready for the party Your Majesty,"

This was just great. We had a prince on our side that only I knew about. I didn't care what Link said. I heard that booze was a great stress reliever and oh boy did I need some of that.

These few more days were going to kill me.


	26. Let the Festivities Begin!

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.26

_Elsia glanced at her reflection and smiled. The day had finally arrived. She ran her hands over her dress again, smoothing it flat. There, perfect. She was a vision, perfect skin, pink cheeks, her hair done up just right. She didn't usually care about her appearance but she couldn't help but twirl around and admire herself in the mirror. The dress had been custom made, not quite as extravagant as the princess's but still gorgeous. Off her shoulders, with long sleeves, it clung to her until it reached her waist. There it puffed out, with several layers under the skirt to hold it out. It was covered in a jeweled pattern and had a beautiful ruffled train in the back. Her veil went all the way down past her waist and Elsia moved it in front of her face when she heard a knock on her door. _

_ She opened the door to the room and found Cain standing before her, dressed in his best garments. She had never seen him smile so big and she smiled back. He held out his arm. _

_ "My lady," he said with a little bow._

_ "Lord Cain," she replied, curtsying. The king had finally recognized Cain as a lord of the land, despite the fact he wasn't of noble blood. _

_ "You look great Elsia," He said, blinking his eyes. _

_ She smiled. "Cain, are you crying?" she asked, feeling her own eyes well up. _

_ "No," he responded, quickly rubbing his eyes. "These robes are just so stuffy," _

_ She grabbed his arm, laughing. "I promise you won't have to wear them again for a while," she teased._

"_I better not have to until one of your kids is getting married," he joked. _

_Elsia giggled. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves there Lord Cain. I might be getting married but I'm no where near ready to be a mother,"_

_He shrugged. "Not really something you choose sweetie," He led her to the giant double doors that led to the castle's inner temple. "But when it does, those kids couldn't have a better family," A few lords and ladies made up the wedding train in front of her, each dressed in colorful garments, distracting Elsia from Cain's words. They all gave her a reassuring smile as the music picked up. Elsia felt her heart swell. This was it. _

_ The two doors swung open and they started forward. As they walked past, the people sitting in the benches stood up before them, smiling at her. She glanced at them, seeing familiar faces. People from the wagon train where she had first met Cithe and Cain, Leonel smiling back at were some of the other families from the small town she had grown in at Cain and Surora's manor, the son's looking a little less than happy. In the front were the friends that Cithe and she had made here in the castle and city. All the faces smiled at her and she met each one back until she looked up to the altar and saw Cithe standing there, Benegio and Marita next to him. Her heart sped up and she her smile grew even bigger. He smiled back at her, standing up there in his knight's armor. He was every bit the prince that all girls wanted to marry. She arrived at the altar and their eyes locked. Later, Elsia wouldn't remember much from the ceremony except for being up there with him. Cain gave her to Cithe and the priest started the ceremony. _

_ "Lords and Ladies, we are brought together today to witness the union of these two young souls in matrimony. We pray that the Goddesses three will bless them with many happy years together…" and so he went on. Elsia didn't really pay attention to the words until he reached the rings. "With these rings you two are tying your bond of love together, one that will be your aid and salvation in tough times. Place your rings on each other's fingers as a symbol of your commitment," _

_ Cithe took his ring and gently slid it onto her finger. "For all time," he whispered to her, smiling. Elsia could feel the tears beginning to well again in her eyes. This time, she let a few slid down her face. _

_ She took her ring, sliding it onto his finger and replying "That's the only way I'd ever want it," She squeezed his hand and they turned back to the priest. _

_ "I bless this union with all my authority as a servant of the Goddesses three. Sir Cithe and Lady Elsia, you are now joined for all time. You may kiss the bride, Sir Cithe," Cithe didn't need to be told twice and they kissed for what seemed too short of a time to Elsia. The priest finished up as they broke apart. "I now present the groom and bride, joined as one!" They turned to face the crowd that instantly started cheering and clapping. Smiling, they began to go down the aisle as the people threw flower petals on them. They exited the chapel and headed for the grand hall, the crowd following them the whole way. _

_ Elsia turned and whispered to Cithe. "That's it? It seemed so short, but so beautiful " _

_ He laughed and kissed her. "That's it. And you made such a big deal out of the wedding,"_

_ "I've never been to one before, I thought there was a whole bunch of ceremonial processes,"_

_ Cithe shook his head. "No, they keep them short here. Especially with young couples. The big part of the wedding is the reception," He smiled. "That's where the cake is," _

_ She giggled. "Of course you think of that,"_

_ "Hey what can I say? I love my food," _

_ She smiled at him. "That's true," _

_ Soon they reached the grand hall where the orchestra instantly broke out into song. Cithe escorted Elsia to the head table where the king, princess Marita, Benegio, Surora and Cain soon joined them. The hall was filled with chatter and laughter, everyone enjoying the wedding feast prepared for today. As the dined, many people came up to Elsia's table to give them their congratulations. _

_ "It was such a beautiful ceremony Elsia," Marita told her, smiling. _

_ Elsia laughed. "It was, but I'm sure yours and Benegio's ceremony will be twice as grand as this," _

_ "I doubt it. I heard that Cain hired fireworks for tonight to light up the sky," _

_ "We'll have to watch them from the carriage Elsia," Cithe cut in. "We're going to go spend the week at the ocean before coming back," _

_ Elsia eyes widened. "That sounds amazing. I've never seen the ocean,"_

_ Cithe smiled. "I thought you'd like it," _

_ She smiled and held his hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Cain stood up and raised his goblet. After a minute the guest quieted and gave him their full attention. _

_ Cain breathed out slowly. "Now," he said slowly looking over at them. "I know how much of a surprise this must be to those of us that know these two. Who thought that they'd end up together," Everyone laughed a bit, making Elsia blush. "But I must say that this day is probably in the top five of my life. I mean, Cithe could have married any lady in the land and chances are, I might not have liked her. Or maybe Elsia would have fallen for some traveling merchant and left us. That didn't happen though, and I know that these two will be happy together because I know them both very well. As sad as it was, I thank the goddesses for the day that I found this girl. There couldn't have been anyone better to have in our family," He raised his glass a bit higher. "A toast to the happy couple!" A cheer went up and the sound of cups clinking filled the air, along with the sounds of conversations. Elsia wiped away the tears on her face before clinking glasses with Cithe next to her. _

_ "Love you," he whispered, holding out his hand as he stood up. _

_ She took it and smiled as he led her to the center of the floor. "Love you more," she whispered back as he drew her into his arms and began to twirl her around. _

_ "I doubt that," _

_ She just sight and smiled, enjoying herself. There was nothing she wanted to change about this moment. They danced for a while before cutting the wedding cake, with Cithe making the best face when the castle chefs rolled out the five layer masterpiece. They cut the cake together and she managed to smear some on Cithe's face before ducking out of the way. After the cake, there were a few more speeches and then it was time to go. _

_ Elsia threw the bouquet as Cithe rushed her out the doors of the castle, eager for her to see the fireworks from the hills. The sun was just setting as they pulled out the city and the show had started by the time they reached the highest hill. They paused for a moment, enjoying the spectacle and sharing a deep kiss before heading off for their ocean getaway. _

_ Elsia leaned against her husband as they road on down the road. "Today was wonderful," she murmured, suddenly realizing how tired she was. _

_ Cithe kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you're happy love. That's all I've ever wanted,"_

_ "Really?" _

_ She could still see his smile, even in the dark of the carriage. "Really," _

-xXx-

"_Oh for the joy of the girl I went to the mountain. Oh for her love I ran through the river. I brought her jewels and clothes from a far but still she left me this scar. Oh darli – _Oops!" Riki tripped again as he danced and we all cracked up. Despite Link's warning, the men were still drinking and it seemed that Riki was already letting his drink get to his head. He got up clumsily and grabbed Marei's hand.

"Come and join me love!" he exclaimed, pulling her up and giving her a giant kiss. She laughed at let him lead her around in a circle. Soon, other couples started joining in. I stayed where I was, watching them. Link had told me he had some business to deal with before joining us. It was probably the only reason Riki wasn't sporting a black eye yet. As I watched he tripped again, almost taking a giggling Marei down with him. I laughed and took a sip from my cup as a voice behind me spoke.

"I really hope that's not what I think it is," I gagged a bit on my drink before turning to face Link. He was smiling down at me with that easy way of his.

I motioned for him to join me. "Relax, it's just water. I'm not really in a mood to get into a fight with you but if you're desperate, Riki's on his second tank. It's almost dry too,"

"Really? I couldn't tell," Link answered sarcastically, watching Riki and his cousin dancing away. He sighed and pulled out a flask. "I guess it can't be helped," he said, taking a deep swing from it. I almost choked on my water again.

"Link!" I exclaimed, eyes wide. "What happened to no drinking?" He took another swing and turned back to me, grinning. Before I could say another word, he breathed in my face and I blinked in surprise. His breath smelled like… "Milk?"

He cracked up and I felt my face turn red. I grabbed the flask and took a big gulp from it myself. It was milk, cold and fresh. "Where did you get this?" I asked. There were no cows around.

He grinned at me. "Togino's sisters' bought it while in town today," I took another sip before Link took it back.

"Togi has sisters?"

Link nodded. "Six to be in fact. They're all blonde, tall and older than him," He smiled. "You should have seen them when they saw Togi. They didn't stop hugging him for an hour," He looked around and pointed. "See, there they are now," Sure enough, across the circle was Togi with six very pretty blonde girls who were all fawning over him.

"Wow. They sure love their brother," I noticed. Link shrugged and put his flask back in his pocket.

He stood up and offered his hand. "Enough of this sitting around. Let's go dance before Sir Nael thinks he has an opening to snatch you from me," I smiled and gave Link my hand, having to bite back my tongue from telling him what I knew. He took me into the dancing circle and we began to spin around, much to the crowds pleasure. I guess his men didn't get to see Link cut back very often. The music started to get even faster and we all struggled to keep up, everyone trying not to trip over their own feet. Riki gave up after tripping again and went off, probably to find more mead. The music's tempo increased again and I watch as more couples left the circle.

"What's going on?" I asked "Is this normal?"

Link spun me around again. "No, they must be having a dance competition to see who can last the longest,"

"Oh," After that I tried to focus on the dance as he tempo kept rising. Soon it was just Link, me and one more couple left in the dance. Everyone else was silent as we circled around. I misstepped and caught myself just in time. I almost didn't make it but then the other couple tripped and we finally stopped. Link grabbed my hand and we took a bow. The crowd went wild and the circle filled up again with people.

Link looked over at me. "Let's get away for a while," I nodded and we walked off into the woods. Soon, the sounds of the party began to fade away, replaced by the gentler sounds of the forest. Night birds were chirping their soft songs and the small spirits that floated around provided some light.

"I've always loved the forest in Hyrule the most. The other forest are beautiful in their own way, but the magic isn't really there anymore,"

"Really? So not all forest have the spirits in them?"

"No," Link replied wistfully. "I was so angry when I was told that I couldn't go back to my village anymore. It felt like my family had just rejected me. It was always my favorite place to be,"

We stayed silent for a minute. "If that's true," I spoke up "Then why did you leave Hyrule instead of staying with your family while you could?" I never really did understand why Link had left. I mean, sure, exploring the world was great but it was usually for older people. Link could have grown up here and then gone off on his adventures.

"It's because I was looking for a friend of mine who left after I saved Hyrule," he told me. "I didn't want her to go, I wasn't ready for her to go so I left to find her," He paused. "I never did listen to her much,"

"Did you ever find her?"

"No," he whispered "I looked everywhere I could go, traveled to most places people wouldn't dare set foot in but I never found her. I always got distracted too, you know. People would ask for my help and I'd go, help and move on my way. I don't really remember when I started giving up hope on finding her, probably the third or fourth year of my search. It was around that time that I entered Cycania,"

I stayed silent. Link had never actually told me what had happened in Cycania.

"Anyway, I arrived in Cycania and life got weird. The minute I crossed the border, I got a massive headache and fainted. When I woke up, I was in Aunt Crème's house. Her house was close to the border and she found me while on her walk. She showed me a picture of her son and husband and told me I looked just like them except for my pale skin and gold streaks. I got confused of course, because I was blond and blue eyed. I told her that too but she just shook her head and showed me my reflection in the mirror. Talk about a shock. It was also when Triloni first talked to me,"

I turned to look at Link's face. "Wait, what do you mean he talked to you?"

"Exactly what I said. He talked to me while in my head. I thought I was going crazy for awhile," He paused for a second, studying a passing spirit. "So I lived with Aunt Crème in Cycania. While there, she told me about her son and how he and his Hyrulian wife disappeared about fourteen years ago," Link bent over to pick up a stone, examining it as we walked. In his eyes I could see he was somewhere else, a good memory probably. "She had one picture of her son, his wife and their twins. It hung above the fireplace in her house, surrounded by candles like a shrine to the dead. She told me she was waiting for them to come back but truthfully, I think she gave up years ago,"

"That's so sad," was all I could manage to think of. It's not that I didn't think it was sad but I couldn't think of a word to describe that kind of emotion.

"Yeah," Link agreed with me. "She said that she was so happy to have me there, said that I was so much like the three grandchildren she lost. Oh yeah, the wife was pregnant when the family disappeared so Aunt Crème began to believe that I was him since I said I was from Hyrule too. Honestly, I believed it myself,"

I smiled a bit. "Knowing what we do now, it's probably true,"

He smiled back. "I'm not going to disagree. If I am her grandson that makes me royalty. She's sister's with Cycania's late king. Marei is his granddaughter,"

"What!"

Link laughed. "It's the truth, I swear! It's part of the reason why I'm here. See, Marei liked to come and visit her great aunt when she could. About three months after I arrived in Cycania, she came for a visit with the news that Hyrulians troops were invading and attacking in small numbers. She couldn't figure out why so I offered to help her,"

I smiled. "Because that's what you do,"

He smiled back. "Because that's what I do,"

"I don't get it though. Why would the king let his only daughter out of the kingdom? Wouldn't he want her somewhere safe?"

Link shook his head. "The king and queen knew the dangers of the Hyrulian army and didn't want to risk the city getting captured with Marei there. Plus, who better to keep her safe than the hero of time?" I giggled but I did agree.

"So then you guys went off and just found all these people to join you?" I found that kind of doubtful.

Link shrugged. "Well, once we found out why Hyrule was attacking, yeah. The main army was busy fighting with the Hyrulians so we made our own. Cycania has a lot of allies so we went and asked soldiers from there for help and anyone else who wanted to bring the fight to Hyrule. Most of the soldiers only wanted to fight on the home front though which is why we only have a battalion or so worth of fighters, most of which we trained,"

I squeezed his hand to reassure him. "Don't worry, that's why we have our kick ass plan,"

Link laughed. "Yeah but still, I wish I could talk to Saria and get her advice…" Link stopped where he was and looked ahead, blinking a few times.

"On? Link what's the matter what are you staring at?" I followed his eyes and looked into forest ahead of us. I didn't really see anything different except for one huge blue light. Scared I jerked back on Link's hand. "It's a poe!" I hissed. Sword or not, it was extremely difficult to take down a poe. Link shook his head.

"It's not a poe," he said in awe. "How many times did I look through these woods before I left? Have you been here the whole time?" The little blue light went up and down and then circled Link's head.

"Listen!" I heard a voice whisper "And follow me!"

With that it zoomed off, with Link in hot pursuit, dragging me along. We had been walking in a straight past so that we didn't get lost, but now we made so many zig zags and turns through the trees I could have never found my way back.

Finally, after what seemed like hours we stopped running, both of us panting and the blue light dancing around our heads.

"Link," I gasped "What is this," I feebly gestured towards it.

He couldn't stop smiling, a giant rare smile I hardly saw. "It's my friend I've been looking for, my fairy from when I was a boy. Navi," he answered his eyes gleaming.

Of course. Hadn't I always called him fairy boy when he visited me years ago. I knew Navi, she had always been following him, chastising him for wasting time drinking milk and playing with me at the ranch when they had the kingdom to save. She had been his best friend, always there for him.

I meant always too. Even though he was too old for a fairy, she had helped him again. Because standing in front of us, ocarina in hand, was none other than a green haired girl who I knew must be Saria.

**Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long guys! I've been dealing with a lot of problems that you guys don't want to know about. They're all gone now though so it shouldn't be so long for the next chapter. I know that the wedding scene might not be the best one but I've never really been to a wedding so I don't really have a good feel for the emotion, just that it's a happy atmosphere. Again, sorry this took so long! I promise not to take three months again! Now I have all spring break to write **


	27. Falling Through Time

**After the Battles are Done**

Ch.27

_ "Give it back! That's mine!" shrieked the little girl as she rounded the corner, almost knocking Elsia's basket over. She shook her head as she put the basket of clean clothes down and went down the hall to find two children grappling of the living room rug. _

_ "I've got the dolly, I've got the dolly," The little boy taunted, holding it just out of the girl's reach. Her bottom lip was trembling and Elsia could see she was about to cry. She swooped in and took the toy from the boy much to his surprise. Handing it back to the girl she turned back to him and picked him up so he was eye level with him. _

_ "Troi, you shouldn't do that to your sister," she chastised him. He blinked his blue eyes and his smile shrank a bit. _

_ "But Mommy, she won't play with me if I don't," he whined. His sister, clinging to Elsia's skirt, looked up instantly. _

_ "Fighting is not playing! Right Mommy?" she asked. _

_ "Play with me then Ria," Troi told her simply. "And we won't fight," _

_ "No! You don't want to play the same games!" _

_ Elsia sighed. "How about we play with Mommy for a while?" she asked them, setting Troi down next to his sister, Ria. They smiled at her words. _

_ "Okay" they chimed. Elsia smiled. She always loved those little moments when the twins were in harmony. It made her believe what Surora said about twins always knowing what the other was thinking. _

_ "Let's go take care of your garden out back for a while. I think I saw some fairies out there earlier," she whispered loudly with a smile. _

_ The children instantly ran out of the house, Elsia following close behind. The twins were sneaking through the taller plants, trying to capture a fairy for themselves. Elsia watched carefully as they played, keeping an eye out for any signs of fighting. _

_ Ria looked up at her. "Mommy, what colors are fairies?" _

_ "Oh, all different colors,"_

_ "What do fairies do?" asked Troi as he lifted up a rock. _

_ "They keep little children safe and give them good dreams," Elsia answered him. _

_ The children kept looking for the fairies until Elsia told them it was time to go in. The sun was just setting off in the hills and Elsia had to start dinner soon. Tired from playing in the garden, the twins played quietly in the living room while Elsia bustled around the kitchen, preparing their dinner. She was almost finished when Cithe walked in, much to Ria and Troi's delight. They wrapped themselves around his legs and looked up eagerly._

_ "Daddy! Did you bring us anything?" They asked, holding on to his legs. _

_ Elsia frowned. "Let go of your father's boots. They're filthy and I'm not spending another three hours bathing you two today," she scolded them. _

_ "Works for me," Troi said happily. Cithe rolled his eyes and detached them from his boots. Walking over to Elsia, he planted a giant kiss on her cheek and smiled. _

_ "Hello my love. Tough day?" he asked her. _

_ "Not anymore than the others," she told him smiling. "How about you? How was your day at the barracks?" Cithe was now the local battle master, training new recruits from the area to be soldiers. _

_ "Not bad. I trained the more advanced soldiers today" He told her, sitting down to take off his boots. "I think I may send in the request for knighting for one of them. Has both the strategy and patience needed to be a great knight," Ria climbed into his lap and planted a big kiss on Cithe's face, giggling._

_ "Daddy, you're beard tickles," she told him, brushing her hand over the bristles on Cithe's face. He smiled at her and rubbed his cheeks against hers. She laughed again and Troi was over in an instant, wanting to see what was so funny about their father's beard. _

_ Elsia watched her family, a smile on her face. It had been about five years since they had gotten married. Five wonderful years of peace. Three years ago, Elsia had had the twins, Troi and Ria, each with black curls and blue eyes in cherub faces. They were always laughing and full of energy, flying around the house in a whirlwind of activities. _

_ Troi came up to her and grabbed her skirt, locking his blue eyes with her own. "I love you!" he exclaimed hugging her legs. Ria squirmed out of her father's lap and did the same. _

_ "Hey, I want in on this," Cithe got up and joined in. Elsia hugged him back. It was these little moments she loved the most. Cithe smiled down at her and scooped up the children, one in each arm. "Come on you guys, let's go play in the other room while your mom finishes cooking. You two can tell me all about what you did today," He gave Elsia a small kiss and carried the twins to the next room. _

_ Humming to herself, Elsia went on with chopping and preparing the dinner. In the other room she could hear the children trying to escape from Cithe as he pretended to be a monster. She stirred the pot and turned around in the kitchen to find a man sitting in one of her kitchen chairs. He smiled and waved at her. _

_ "Hello Elsia dear," he greeted her, his cold golden eyes locking with hers. _

_ Elsia grabbed the knife behind her and pointed it at the strange man. "Cithe!" she called in alarm, keeping her eyes on the man in front of her. "Who are you and how did you get into this house?" she demanded. How many times had she told Cithe to always lock the door when he came home? _

_ He leaned back. "Oh you know. A little stealth, skill and magic. As for who I am, do you really have no idea? I know it's been a while Elsia and I've… changed," His face grew darker for a second. "But really? Nothing? Or are you just in denial?" He chuckled a little and Elsia felt her heart drop. _

_ "I-it can't be you though," she managed in a weak gasp. The knife fell from her hand. It wouldn't be of use to her anyway, not if he really was who he claimed to be. But… it couldn't be, she told herself. She stared at the man again. He was tall and well built, wearing dark armor and a cape. His skin was tanned and red hair went all the way down to his shoulders, unbound. On top of his hair sat a small golden crown. It couldn't be, they looked nothing alike. _

_ The man shrugged. "I understand of course. I had to drop the disguise my master created for me. Take up my original body. It was the only way to escape from your clever little trap," _

_ Elsia felt fear begin to overtake her. What had happened all those years ago had come back to haunt her. "Why have you waited this long Gaelit?"_

_ Gaelit stood up and took a few steps forward. "I don't go by that anymore. You of all people should know that. I'm Ganondorf now, king of the Gerudos," He spread his arms out. "Impressive no? As to why I've waited so long, it's really more that I had more pressing matters at hand. See, I've been busy ruling my people, making treaties, stealing," He smirked "So I haven't really had time for a visit," He glanced at the stove top. "You're stew is going to burn. I'd hate for you to have to disappoint your children with burned stew just because you were talking to me. Beautiful children by the way, they look like you,"_

_ "You stay away from them or this time there won't be anything left of you to save," she threatened him. _

_ Ganondorf held up his hands. "Relax, Elsia, I'm just here to deliver a message. I have no intent on going after your new family… yet that is," he replied with a smirk._

_ Elsia glared at him and raised her hands. "Leave now or I will make you," _

_ He crossed his arms. "I'd like to see you try," he remarked. _

_ With that, Elsia raised her hands in front of her and called upon her powers given to her all those years ago. A blue wall of energy left her palms and hit Ganondorf, sending him smashing through the back wall._

_ "You've gotten stronger with your powers," he coughed, getting up from the ground._

_ "I've had five years of practice," Elsia replied, stepping through the hole and crossing her arms. "In fact, if you're quite done bragging, I'll be sending you back to where I put you last time and getting on with my life. I think I might be adding some more defenses to my house too, just in case that master of yours has another trick up his sleeve," _

_ Gaelit let out a laugh. "That's the Elsia I know," She tensed up and began to speak the enchantment. He held up his hands and she felt her mouth close by force. "Wait. I'm not done quite yet Elsia dear," _

_ She hissed the words through her clenched teeth. "What, do you have something else to tell me? Because I honestly don't want to hear it," _

_ He smirked again and held up his fist. "I told you that I've been stealing. I just wanted you to see what I stole," Her eyes widened as his fist began to glow with power that she could feel standing feet away from him. "You see, first I'm going to take over the kingdom of Hyrule, you know, the land of your birth? Then I'll be moving on and taking the other kingdoms between there and here. And eventually, I will be knocking on your door to drag you out and show you what I've accomplished and then, maybe, just maybe I'll make you beg for your life and Cithe's life and your children's lives. Then they'll know what real monsters are like. How does that sound?" _

_ Elsia who stood there like a statue felt her anger begin to boil. "Leave me alone!" she screamed, releasing a huge wave of energy right at Ganondorf, who laughed as he disappeared. Elsia felt her knees go weak and she sunk to the ground. "He can't. He won't," she whispered. "I need to stop him," She stumbled to her feet and staggered to the living room, still drained from the spell she had used. She looked in and found her family asleep on the couch. Elsia felt her eyes tear up with relief and fear as she kissed the twins and Cithe on the forehead. "Don't worry," she whispered as she got her things together. "Mama's going to keep you safe. I'll be back soon," _

_ With that Elsia wrapped her cloak around herself, got a horse from the barn and went out into the night, heading towards Hyrule. _

-xXx-

Link stood there for a second, staring first at his fairy and then at Saria. His gold eyes widened and he took a timid step forward. Saria smiled at Link and held a hand out towards him. "You've grown up so much my friend,"

"Saria," he breathed out. "Saria I've missed you so much. And I've missed the village and I've even missed that bully Mito," He smiled and took her hand in his.

"I've missed you too. You've been gone for so long," she replied, her eyes huge and sad. "I knew you would return one day though, and I've been waiting here to tell you what you need to know to heal the princess," Saria turned her head towards me and locked eyes. "What you both need to know,"

I blinked in disbelief and Link turned to look at me. "What do you mean both of us?"

Saria smiled at me. "You yourself have a big part to play in what must happen next. It was no accident that you met Link. It has always been the plans of the three goddesses," Saria motioned for us to follow her and she led us to a small pond. She turned back towards Link. "Do you know what this pond is?"

"Um… it looks like a pond I fished in when I was younger?" Link asked in confusion. He looked at the water and looked back up at Saria. "I don't see anything special about it if that's what you're asking,"

"What about you Malon?"

I took a step forward and looked down into the clear water of the pond, my reflection looking back at me. Except it wasn't really my reflection… "I can see myself when I was five," I told her in surprise. I glanced at Link's reflection and saw that his too was that when he was much younger and still with all Hyrulian features. Saria's remained the same though. "What is this pond?"

Saria smiled at me. "Water, infused with the powers of the Ocarina of Time and kept safe by me,"

"Why are you showing us this?" Link asked. "What does this have to do with healing Princess Zelda of the demon's influence?"

"Because, in order to understand what must happen next, you must first understand what happened in the past and what sacrifices where made to help you accomplish your goals," Saria answered. "You need to understand your whole past Link, including where you came from,"

"I apologize Saria, but I still don't see what this has to do with me," I interrupted.

She held out her hands to both of us. Link took it right away. "You will understand in time, Malon. Will you trust me on that?"

I stared at her hand for a second before taking it. "Yes," I answered.

Suddenly I couldn't see and the sensation of falling filled me. I wanted to scream but found that I couldn't move. A few seconds later the feeling stopped and I realized I had closed my eyes. When I opened them, I found myself in the back of a covered wagon with Link, Saria and a cloaked woman who seemed to have her eyes closed.

"Where are we?" Link asked Saria.

"Back in time, about 18 years ago. This wagon is heading towards Hyrule,"

My eyes widened and I struggled to keep my voice down. "No offense but are you crazy? The Great War is happening right now! You're going to get us all killed!"

Saria remained calm. "Relax, nothing can help us. If one of us gets in serious danger, we'll just be sent back to the forest,"

Link relaxed and leaned back against the wagon. "So what are we doing here?"

"Following her," Saria answered him, motioning towards the sleeping woman next to us in the wagon. "Don't worry, no one will notice us,"

"Why is she important?" I asked, studying her. She looked just like a normal Hyrulian but I knew appearances could be deceiving.

"She is the only other Hyrulian to ever cross over into the Cycanian border,"

We both stared at the sleeping woman now in awe because Triloni had told us it was nearly impossible to cross the border into Cycania. I was still wondering what could be so special about this woman when the wagon came to a sudden stop and the woman woke up with a jolt. The driver of the wagon turned around. "Sorry hon, but this is as far as I can take you. I'm not getting anywhere near that mess of a kingdom right now. For your sake, I hope your husband is still alive,"

The woman looked at the driver with tired eyes and smiled in appreciation. "Thank you so much. I think I'll be fine from here,"

The driver looked at her doubtfully. "Are you sure you want to do this? A woman with in your condition shouldn't be going anywhere near that battlefield. Why don't you stay with me and the wife until after the war is over? Rumors have it that it should be only a few more months. The King has almost completely subdued the other forces,"

"No, thank you though for everything you've done. You may keep my horse, it won't be of much use to me," she replied climbing out of the back of the wagon. As she straightened up I could see why the wagon driver was so anxious to get this woman to safety. She was extremely pregnant.

"Well, if you can't find your husband, you come right back to the farm and my wife and I will be more than happy to take care of you and your young one," he replied with kind eyes.

We took this as our cue to get out of the wagon and a few minutes later we watched as the farmer went back down the road, never even noticing the other three passengers he had had. The blonde woman stared after him for a moment before continuing down the road on foot, our group right behind her.

"I don't get it," Link murmured to me. "Why would she return now during a war? That doesn't make any sense. It's just dangerous,"

I shrugged. "I guess that's what we're here to find out,"

It was almost dusk when the woman found herself next to Hyrule Lake. She paused there a moment, studying the lake with a sadness in her eyes. Suddenly she turned towards the bridge that led to the center island and walked there, sitting under the shade of it's branches as the sun set. She begun to sing softly, holding her belly and watching the sun fall. Saria motioned for us to sit and wait.

About a half an hour later a man on a horse came down the path and began to give the horse a drink. He looked up to stare at the woman sitting under the tree and I breathed in sharply. The man before us was my father. I saw Link's eyes widen with recognition as well.

"Hello there!" he called out to the woman, who stopped singing. "Can I help you ma'am?"

She smiled and got up before answering him. "Actually kind sir, I was wondering if you know where I might find Lon Lon Ranch. I'm looking for a friend of mine in hopes she'll give me some shelter tonight,"

My father scratched his head and stared at the woman. "Well, that's my ranch ma'am. Are you a friend of my wife?"

The woman walked up to my father and stared at his face for a moment in astonishment. "Talon?" she whispered looking up at him. "Is that you?"

My father furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?" he asked politely.

She smiled wide. "It's me Talon! It's Elsia! I've just come back! Did you really end up marrying Mana? Just like you used to say you would?"

My father's eyes widened and his jaw dropped at her words. "Elsia? Oh my goddesses, it's really you! We thought you and your family were gone forever when you didn't come back,"

The woman faltered a bit. "My family is gone Talon. They were killed, years ago, when we were traveling. I only survived because I fell asleep in a tree,"

"I'm so sorry Elsia. They were good people, kind people," my father told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But look at you! After all this time you finally came back, though I can't say that this was a good time to. And it sure looks like your starting a family of your own!" He motioned for her to follow him. "Well, come on, come on, Mana will be so happy to see you again," They started walking towards the ranch with us right behind them. The moon was up in the sky by the time we finally got back and I could make out the campfires in Hyrule fields that showed where the army was. My father had the gate locked on the ranch that hadn't been used in years and made sure to lock it again after they went through. We all headed into the house and I mentally prepared myself for what I would see next.

My mother was cooking dinner when my father walked in with Elsia, who looked around with the same sad look she had had at the lake. I blinked my eyes to keep from crying as I stared at her, drinking her in. It seemed so cruel that I could be this close to her again and not talk to her or hug her again. I must have made some noise because Link instantly drew me into a hug. I hugged him back and turned my attention back to my mother.

She looked just as I remembered, red hair cropped short and a kind round face with green eyes. Right now those green eyes were completely focused on Elsia.

"Who is this Talon?" she asked, eying Elsia and her big belly. My father was all smiles as he crossed the room to give her a peck on the cheek.

"Mana, it's Elsia, finally come back after all these years," he told her in excitement. My mother at Elsia and back to my father and back at Elsia again.

"It can't be," she whispered, taking a step closer towards her. She placed a hand on Elsia's face and stared for a few more seconds before her face split into a giant grin. "Elsia!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Elsia and squeezing her tight. "Oh my goddesses, where have you been? I thought I would never see you again. And look at you! Your stomach is huge, not in a bad way though, but I can't believe it! You're here! And pregnant! And… alone," My mother frowned. "Why are you alone? Shouldn't there be a husband in tow? Unless…," My mother grabbed Elsia's hand and her frown deepened. "No, there's a husband. What kind of husband would just let you wander into a war torn land in your condition? I want a few words with this man," she said, hands on her hips.

Elsia laughed. "Oh Mana, I have missed you so much! I never met anyone quite like you," She held my mother at arm's length as she studied her. "How have you been? I see that Talon finally convinced you to marry him. I still remember him bringing you flowers when we were 10 to get free milk,"

My mother giggled and turned back to the stove to take the pot off the stove. "So what brings you back to Hyrule now? It's not the best time as I'm sure you've noticed. I'm amazed we still have the ranch. The soldiers are constantly seizing new places to obtain supplies,"

Elsia's face darkened a bit. "Let's just say I have a little business to deal with. I would already be done with it but… I got a little sidetracked,"

"By your tummy? How long have you been travelling?" My father asked.

"Quite a few months," Elsia replied, sitting down. "I didn't even know I was pregnant when I left home,"

My mother placed a bowl in front of Elsia and sat down next to her. "Well, whatever it is you have to do, I insist that it wait until that baby is born. You can't go running around Hyrule as you are right now,"

We sat down against the wall and I turned to Saria. "What exactly does this woman have to do with us? I mean, she's seems nice and all but what on earth could bring her back to Hyrule at a time like this?"

Saria sighed and turned her head towards me. "You have very little patience Malon," Link chuckled next to me and I felt my face grow red. Saria smiled and began to speak again. "As I said before, this woman is one of the few Hyrulians to cross into Cycania. The only one really if you don't count the ones crossing in now that the barriers are weakened," she looked towards Link. "Link, I'm not really going to count you since you're only half Cycanian," she told him.

Link shrugged. "That's fine. So what let this lady enter Cycania,"

"The three goddesses. They needed her in order to stop the rise of demons,"

I frowned. "Wait, but I thought it was Link's job to protect Hyrule from darkness and demons such as Ganon," I said slowly.

Saria nodded. "Of course. Like I said she was part of the goddesses plan. They knew that they would one day need the help of mortals to destroy those who threatened the peace. So they tried to help their hero every way they could. That hero is you Link," she said, her eyes falling on him. "Tell me Hero of Time, who do you think this woman's husband is?"

Link frowned. "How would I know? Probably some Cycanian she met while living there," I felt my eyes widen as the pieces slipped into place in my mind.

"But that could mean…" I started.

Saria stared at me. "Yes, Malon it is who you believe it is,"

I stared at Elsia again. How could I not have seen it before?

"What is it?" link demanded, looking back and forth between us.

I tore my eyes away from the woman and looked straight into Link's eyes. Eyes that used to be the exact same shade of blue as Elsia's.

"Link, Elsia is your mother,"


End file.
